October 7, 2022 |
Instead of awarding a municipal solid waste agreement, Rawlins City Council scrapped the current process and voted Tuesday to re-advertise a request for proposal to haul the city’s waste and recyclable cardboard.
The original process, which was described as “messy,” had the city’s two licensed trash haulers, Wyoming Waste Systems and Dirty Boyz, bidding on different services. When the topic came up last month, city staff had concluded that Wyoming Waste was $445.20 cheaper a month.
Rose Cain with Dirty Boyz countered, telling council that her company would provide as free cardboard pickup. The offer would offset Dirty Boyz bid by as much $7,200 annually. The claim could not be validated so council elected to move the vote until this week to allow for research.
During discussion Tuesday, the value of the free cardboard pickup still was not established with certainty. Councilwoman Linda Smith made a motion to award the agreement to Dirty Boyz despite its higher bid. Smith argued that council should abandon its usual policy of accepting the lowest bid in the name of economic development and favor a “local” company.
Pictured above: A March 2019 file photo of Dirty Boyz trash receptacles in Rawlins. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Bruce Leven, the owner of Wyoming Waste, addressed council, and said that his company is as local as his competitor. Leven said he spends over $750,000 a year in Rawlins on salaries, fuel for his trucks and other goods and services — not including property taxes.
Leven operates Wyoming Waste in Riverton, Rock Springs and Evanston, as well as Rawlins.
Councilman Debari Martinez said the way the process was conducted produced estimates that could not be fairly compared.
Resident Tanya Lewman said a bid form should have been used to solicit the numbers. Lewman, who is a contract administrator at the refinery, said the bid form is a pricing sheet that provides “clear cut numbers.”
Lewman described the original process as a “flower dance.” Lewman said the service contract should be rebid with a more specific scope.
City Attorney Gwendolyn Wade accepted responsibility for how the city requested estimates from the two trash haulers.
The call for estimates produced a difference in bids that was more than $5,000 papered over with fuzzy math about additional services and the perceived but unquantified value of awarding the contract to an in-city company.
Council discussion centered on various options available to the city given the process. Council ultimately agreed to reboot the process.
Councilwoman Smith made a motion to rescind her earlier motion to award the bid for the service agreement to Dirty Boyz and to re-advertise a request for proposal with a cleaner bid package. The motion passed 4-0 with Mayor Terry Weickum and Councilman Darril Garner abstaining. Councilman Chris Weisenburg was not present.
