RIO DELL — City officials moved to begin updating the city’s solid waste franchise agreement and pursue universal collection to comply with state organics-diversion rules and related franchise changes.

City Manager Kyle told the City Council the current solid waste franchise agreement expires Dec. 31, 2026, and that staff had retained CSG Consultants using a CalRecycle grant to assist negotiations and SB 1383 compliance. Kathleen Gallagher of CSG Consultants summarized options for mandatory collection of garbage, recycling and organics and saidSB 1383 “is a behemoth of a new law. It is an unfunded mandate.”

The council provided direction to staff to pursue full implementation (option A) as the baseline for negotiations and asked staff to return with Recology cost proposals and an updated franchise agreement package for council consideration.

Why it matters: SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to expand organics collection and track contamination and participation; local franchise agreements and ordinances must be updated to reflect new collection standards. Council members said coordinated implementation with neighboring jurisdictions will reduce per-jurisdiction costs and ease public outreach.

Key decisions and next steps
- Direction to pursue universal (mandatory) weekly collection for garbage, recycling and organics in the franchise agreement: council consensus to move forward with implementation planning and to ask Recology for a cost proposal to be verified with CSG (no final ordinance or contract adopted at this meeting).
- Direction to add curbside bulky-item collection: council consensus favored option B (two scheduled bulky-item curbside pickups per household per year, to be included in the bundled rate rather than charged as an on-call fee). Staff will ask Recology to return with pricing and program details (scheduling, performance standards, and eligible items).
- Low-income discount: council members favored establishing a discount for income-qualified single-family customers (discussion centered on a 10% discount but asked staff to model 5% vs. 10% impacts on rates).
- Waste-rate container sizing: council favored offering a 20-gallon garbage container option to encourage diversion and offer a lower-cost service tier.

What council members said
- Kathleen Gallagher, CSG Consultants: “SB 1383 … is a behemoth of a new law. It is an unfunded mandate.”
- City Manager Kyle explained the city has been working regionally with other Humboldt County jurisdictions to standardize contract language and share costs and said the CalRecycle grant funded CSG’s participation.
- Councilmember Wilson: “I am for moving it, definitely moving ahead with getting the universal process going.”
- Another councilmember said implementing with neighboring cities saves money because fixed costs (new trucks, bins, outreach) can be allocated across jurisdictions rather than borne solely by Rio Dell.

Program details discussed
- Timeframes and waivers: Rio Dell currently holds a rural population waiver for organics that staff said expires in 2027; other jurisdictions such as Fortuna and Eureka have corrective action plans and are already moving to mandatory collection (some will begin July 1, 2026). Staff noted CalRecycle may be more stringent on future waiver rounds.
- Collection logistics: organics (food waste) will be commingled with yard trimmings in the existing green cart (cart will be relabeled to show it accepts food waste); HWMA (Humboldt Waste Management Authority) was described as the local transfer/preprocessor and HWMA director Eric has been involved in planning.
- Billing approach: staff proposed a bundled rate where recycling and organics collection are included with garbage service (customers would see one service charge by container size rather than separate line items).
- Bulky-item pickup: proposed curbside service would be scheduled with Recology (resident calls Recology; collections are scheduled on a collection day) and staff proposed including performance standards and liquidated damages for missed pickups.

Budget and financing notes
- No final cost figures were adopted. Council directed staff to obtain Recology’s cost proposals and to verify those numbers with CSG before returning a comprehensive franchise package, including an exhibit that shows resulting rates by bin size.

Background and history
- The city first discussed universal collection in 2019 with follow-ups in 2021 (workshops and a mailer); staff cautioned that numbers from those earlier discussions should not be relied on and that updated cost modeling is needed.
- CSG’s work is cost-shared across multiple Humboldt County jurisdictions to standardize contracts and to strengthen the countywide negotiation posture with Recology.

What the council did not do tonight
- Council did not adopt an ordinance or the franchise agreement tonight. The council provided policy direction (consensus) and asked staff to return with a negotiated franchise package and verified cost proposal for formal action at a future meeting.

Next steps
- Staff will integrate council direction into a draft franchise agreement, request a cost proposal from Recology, verify numbers with CSG, and return to council with the full package (exhibit rates, franchise agreement, and proposed ordinance/municipal-code updates). Outreach and public-notice steps (Proposition 218 schedule for rate changes, if required) were noted as forthcoming.

Ending: Council members stressed the value of regional coordination to reduce costs and improve compliance with SB 1383 while acknowledging rate impacts for residents; staff will return with numbers and formal approvals for future consideration.