City staff told the commission on Aug. 21 that the town's solid-waste contract is coming due and asked whether commissioners wanted to give the incumbent vendor the first opportunity to negotiate, piggyback on Alachua County's GFL contract, or open a full request for proposals.

Staff said complaint volume under the current vendor has fallen significantly compared with earlier service providers. "When we had GFL, we were averaging 60 to 80 to a 100 complaints a week. Now I maybe get 3," a staff member said during the discussion, arguing that service reliability had improved after the last contract change.

Commissioners discussed giving "first dibs" to the incumbent to renegotiate terms; if the city cannot reach acceptable terms it would then run an open bid. Commissioners also noted the city could piggyback on a county contract if the county procurement was compliant with procurement rules and the city chose that option.

Public comments urged caution: resident Jared Howard said potential savings from changing trash arrangements may be overstated because a new competitive bid may produce different pricing. "When you do that, you're probably going to bid that out and get a contract... your $200,000 savings may not be there," he said.

Why it matters

Solid-waste service pricing and contract structure affect recurring annual revenues and operating costs. Vice Mayor Miller and others had earlier suggested trash-fee changes or contract restructuring as a means to generate recurring revenue rather than one-time property sales.

Next steps

Commissioners signaled support for staff to open direct contract discussions with the incumbent and to return to commission with comparative proposals (incumbent offer, piggyback option and open RFP results) so the body can decide whether to renew, piggyback or rebid.