Town tosses trash negotiation

The town is no longer talking trash.

Town Manager Dave Bullock had been negotiating a seven-year garbage and recycling contract with Waste Management at the direction of a bid review committee consisting of town staffers.

But Bullock ended those negotiations at the recommendation of a separate protest committee, also consisting of town staff.

The protest committee formed after Clearwater-based Progressive Waste Solutions of Florida informed the town in a Nov. 20 email it was protesting the weighted criteria used to evaluate and rank bids for trash and recycling services for the town.

Three companies bid for the Key’s service, and the committee rated Waste Management higher than Progressive.

The bid review committee declined to allow the companies to make presentations on their bids in November. Instead, it ranked the companies through a criteria system that selected Waste Management as the company the town should begin negotiations with for a new contract.

Progressive challenged why the company’s bid wasn’t ranked higher in the Nov. 20 email. The protest led to the formation of the protest committee.

“Progressive feels strongly we submitted the most cost-effective bid for the town,” said Progressive Government Affairs Manager Ian Boyle in an email to the Longboat Observer.

Boyle said the bids, which are being presented again later this month at the recommendation of the committee, show that Progressive was “24% to 28% lower in aggregate cost for single-family, multifamily and commercial customers” than Waste Management’s bid.

“There is a savings of $2.5 million to $3 million over the life of the seven-year contract to the Longboat Key community, depending on which option is picked,” Boyle said.

The information was sufficient for the protest committee to recommend that Town Manager Dave Bullock stop negotiations with Waste Management to provide an opportunity for the two companies to make presentations to the bid review committee.

Bid review committee members will evaluate the bids again and listen to the presentations Dec. 20 before awarding a new bid.

Trash Numbers
Clearwater-based Progressive Waste Solutions of Florida claims its prices for a new seven-year contract were cheaper no matter what option the town selected for its bid. Below is a look at the protest information Progressive sent to the town:

Based on multifamily/commercial data collected by Progressive it was the lowest responsive bidder in aggregate price in each option on an annual basis:

Option 1 — $431,706.18 lower*

Option 2 — $434,597.70 lower*

Option 3 — $368,574.66 lower*

Over the seven-year life of the contract the total dollar savings to the Longboat Key community with Progressive’s proposal is as follows:

Option 1 — $3,021,943.26

Option 2 — $3,042,183.90

Option 3 — $2,580,022.62

* Than Waste Management

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]