Riverside staff recommend two-year extension with Republic while city prepares to take billing in-house

Riverside City Manager Josh opened a council discussion on solid waste services on March 3, recommending a short-term contract extension and a city-run billing program to reduce long-term costs and standardize curbside service.

The recommendation follows a month of outreach by Public Service Director Beth Moore to area haulers, the Montgomery County Solid Waste District and peer municipalities. Moore told council that bids are generally more competitive when contractors can spread capital costs over longer terms, and that requiring city billing removes a built-in "bad debt" allowance that haulers otherwise add to their prices.

"In order to get a competitive bid, it's best to have a five-year-plus term," Moore said. She also told council that if "we absorb billing, that absolves the contractor of having to bake into their bid a bad debt ratio," which should lower rates when the city next goes out to bid.

Staff outlined a set of minimum service standards they recommend for future contracts: required residential participation; standardized toters (residents choose a cart size and rates scale to that size); all materials must be placed in toters rather than loose at the curb; recycling remain optional and free; one free bulk item per week with no prescheduling; an eight-week fall leaf collection window allowing five bags of leaves per week; and a three-week post-Christmas tree pickup period. Moore said all curbside residential waste collected in Montgomery County is transloaded at the Montgomery County transfer station and ultimately disposed at the Brumke Sanitary Landfill in Cincinnati; recyclables go to the local Rumpke facility for sorting.

Council and staff discussed options for procuring service. Staff recommended negotiating a two-year extension with Republic Services to bridge the gap until the city can either join a consortium bid timed with the Center for Local Government (CLG) and Montgomery County or run its own five-year procurement. "My recommendation would be to try to negotiate a two-year extension with Republic," Moore said, adding that the extension would give staff time to bring billing and collections in-house and "see how that’s working for us." The council asked staff to pursue negotiations and report back; the manager said staff needs to conclude discussions within about a month so a decision can be made by April whether to bid independently or join the consortium.

Council members raised operational concerns about bringing billing in-house, including differences in vendor invoicing, data and code structures, and staff capacity. Moore said the city has posted for an operations analyst in public service who would specialize in billing elements for solid waste and stormwater, and that staffing and training are being planned. "It will be a lift but it's a manageable lift with the way that we're approaching it," Moore said.

The presentation noted likely procurement trade-offs: companies generally prefer five-year terms because they can amortize truck and toter costs; shorter contracts can increase unit prices. Staff also said requiring toters and required participation speeds route collection and reduces worker injuries and workers' compensation costs.

Council discussion emphasized minimizing disruption for residents during any transition, ensuring consistent seasonal leaf and tree programs, and confirming that any administrative costs for billing would be recovered through the utility fee. Staff said the city would design customer communications for moves, tote size changes and other routine requests.

Staff will pursue a two-year extension with Republic as the preferred near-term approach, return to council with negotiation results and then seek direction before April on whether to bid independently or join the consortium.

Notes: the presentation and discussion included input from Republic Services, Waste Management and Rumpke (haulers), Montgomery County Solid Waste District, and the Center for Local Government.