Covington OKs 12-year collection contract with Republic Services; residents to see expanded services, modest rate rise

Covington City Council on May 27 authorized the city manager to execute a comprehensive garbage, recycling and compostables collection contract with Republic Services covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2038.

The contract, presented to council by Jeanette Jurgensen of Bin There Consulting, keeps many existing services while adding annual bulky-item pickup, on-call cardboard collection for moves, expanded storm-debris response and new performance provisions. "The residential 32-gallon cart customer can expect about a 13% increase," Jurgensen said during the presentation, noting the figure excludes recycling-processing fees.

Why this matters: the agreement sets collection rules, service levels and rates for single-family, multifamily and commercial customers for the next dozen years and includes implementation steps meant to limit service disruptions and give the city clearer enforcement levers.

Council heard that the city ran an open RFP process with three proposers and that Republic scored highest overall and offered the lowest rates. Jurgensen said the new contract includes added flexibility for collection during snow and other inclement weather and an automatic partial-credit mechanism when customers are missed because of snow or labor disruptions. "The customer does not have to do anything," she said; Republic and the city will calculate credits and apply them to the next billing cycle.

The contract lists several resident-facing services at no additional charge: one extra curbside garbage pickup annually for big cleanouts, one free bulky-item pickup each year, one on-call cardboard collection for move-ins, Christmas tree collection for single-family and multifamily properties, and extra storm debris pickup after qualifying events. For multifamily and commercial properties the agreement requires annual outreach visits to promote recycling, composting and waste reduction.

Implementation will include new vehicles (renewable natural gas and electric support trucks), a route reroute to accommodate the different vehicles (which may change residents' pickup days), and an audit of existing containers and labels. Jurgensen said the city will receive a new administrative fee set at 3% of the contract revenue (previously a flat roughly $8,900 monthly payment), which the consultant estimated at about $13,000 per month under current assumptions.

Council members asked about timing and notice for potential pickup-day changes, how credits are applied, and how the city and hauler will promote the enhanced services. Jurgensen said implementation timelines will be set during contract rollout and that residents should receive mailed notices, app updates and autodialer/text notifications.

Council member Joe, speaking in support of the contract, said the new terms reflect resident input and past council requests: "These are things that we want. These are things that we need to have," he said, adding he hoped the contract would run "without a hitch." Other council members praised the negotiated protections and added services before the council voted to approve the contract.

Formal action: Council moved, seconded and voted to authorize the city manager to execute the contract with Republic Services in substantial form as attached; the motion carried.

Next steps: City staff will work with Republic on implementation details, public notice, container audits and scheduling changes before the contract start date.