Fraser City Council voted 7-0 Thursday to extend its contract with Priority Waste for three years, with final terms conditioned on review and approval by the city attorney.

The vote followed more than an hour of discussion during which council members and residents questioned Priority Waste’s service performance, billing structure and warranty terms and staff presented an approximate annual cost for the extension.

City staff recommended the extension because local and regional waste haulers told staff they need months to prepare bids and deploy equipment and crews, which would make a timely competitive procurement difficult before the current contract expires Sept. 12. City staff said the extension would preserve service continuity while giving the city time to prepare a future competitive bid process.

Dan Venet, vice president for Priority Waste, told council the company is investing in equipment and operations for Fraser and other communities. “All the trucks that are in Fraser have cameras and GPS tracking,” Venet said. He said footage is retained for a limited time and that timely reporting to Priority or the city portal helps the company investigate missed pickups or other problems.

City staff provided service counts to frame the recommendation: roughly 5,700 trash pickups, 4,800 recycling pickups and 3,900 compost pickups per pickup cycle. Staff estimated the extension would cost the city about $1,123,000 annually, a figure they described as approximate because volumes and certain variables can change yearly.

Council members pressed Priority and staff on several service issues raised by residents: delays in bulk pickup, apparent mixing of recyclables and trash on some routes, portal response times and a reported increase in debris after pickups. Venet acknowledged operational problems earlier in the service transition, described several corrective steps and said Priority recently purchased 50 new vehicles that will enter service through November to replace older trucks.

Resident Doug Haggerty, who spoke during public comment, urged caution on a multi-year deal and flagged contract terms from Fraser’s 2017 rubbish agreement, including an annual price adjustment he described as 2.25 percent in the prior contract. Haggerty said council should verify escalation language and performance bond requirements before approving an extension.

Councilmember Baranski made the motion to extend the three-year contract; Councilmember O’Dell seconded. Council amended the motion on the floor to make the extension “contingent upon review and approval by the city attorney,” and the amended motion passed unanimously.

Staff were directed to finalize written extension terms, incorporate warranty and repair language that mirrors prior contract protections, and bring the final document to the city attorney for review and formal approval. The council also discussed adding calendar reminders to start a future competitive procurement well before the contract’s expiration.

The extension preserves existing services — refuse, recycling, compost and dumpster service — and includes follow-up work between staff and Priority to document warranty and cart-replacement procedures and to establish clearer portal and callback procedures for residents. The city will review the final, attorney-approved contract before it becomes effective.