Council delays decision on 10-year recycling and organics contract after sharp questions on costs and service

Clovis City Council on Monday delayed final action on a proposed 10-year recycling and organics collection, processing and marketing contract after extensive staff presentations, questions from council members and public testimony from incumbent and competing haulers.

Staff recommended awarding the contract to Mid Valley Disposal after an RFP that drew three proposals—Mid Valley Disposal, Caglia Environmental and incumbent Republic Services—and an evaluation that scored firms on qualifications, technical approach, financial stability and cost. Assistant Public Utilities Director Glenn Estes told the council the current contract with Republic Services expires July 31, 2025, and that the RFP process included consultant input from HF&H, interviews and reference checks.

The recommendation matters because the contract would cover residential and commercial recycling and organics collection for the city enterprise fund and set customer rates that affect households and local businesses. The winning bidder’s prices and service approach determine the city’s compliance with state organics law (SB 1383), customer bills and the logistics of switching haulers if the council approves a change.

Staff and the evaluation team said Mid Valley submitted the lowest-cost proposal among the three and would not require a citywide rate increase tied to a Proposition 2.18 election. "Mid Valley Disposal provided the lowest rates, which are 20% higher than our current rates. Caglia Environmental provided rates that were 45% higher and Republic Services proposed rates that were 79% higher than our current rates," an evaluation member summarized during the presentation. The evaluation panel scored proposals on implementation, customer service, exceptions to contract terms and cost; interview and reference checks informed the technical and predictability scores.

Council members pressed staff and the bidders on several points: how commercial service rates would be calculated and "right‑sized" for businesses and multifamily properties; the degree to which residential and commercial services are interdependent; whether Mid Valley’s low commercial tote rates reflected a lower service level or a different operational assumption; and how future CPI-based rate adjustments would apply. Council members also asked for more comparative detail from the two proposals not included in the initial packet.

Proposers and employees addressed the council. Joseph Kalpkoff, owner and CEO of Mid Valley Disposal, told the council, "We are the only company, the only bidder that is vertically integrated," citing Mid Valley’s composting and material recovery facilities and saying that vertical integration and recent capital investments were reflected in Mid Valley’s pricing. Mid Valley said it would open a local office and that it would offer employment opportunities for workers affected by any transition.

Representatives of Republic Services, the incumbent, urged the council to consider continuity and employee impacts. "We have a 30-year history with the city of Clovis," said Ashley Cawley, Republic’s municipal manager, and the company’s operations staff and drivers attended the meeting to stress safety, service continuity and the effect on union employees should the contract change hands. Caglia Environmental also described its customer-service record and local community engagement.

Staff described several contract features intended to reduce transition risk and support SB 1383 compliance: a required local office, an annual marketing/outreach budget (included in the draft contract at $200,000), rightsizing of commercial accounts before the contract begins, a CPI-based rate escalator capped at 4% per year and provisions to request extraordinary rate adjustments if unanticipated market shifts occur. Staff said the residential portion of the enterprise is relatively fixed (the city bills and pays the hauler for residential service), while commercial billing flows directly between hauler and customer, making commercial revenue projections more sensitive to assumptions about service levels.

Public testimony included Republic drivers and staff raising concerns about the jobs, benefits and pensions that would be affected by a change in contractor. Mid Valley, Caglia and Republic representatives all said they would make efforts to hire locally and work with affected employees in any transition.

After roughly three hours of presentation and public comment, council members asked for more time and more documentation. The council voted to continue the item to the next meeting and directed staff to provide the full proposals from all three proposers (the packet contained the staff recommendation and Mid Valley’s proposal but not the other two proposals). The motion to continue carried unanimously.

The continuance gives council members time to compare the full proposals and to review specific metrics—service‑level assumptions, truck counts, staffing models, and commercial rightsizing projections—before deciding whether to accept staff’s recommendation or select another proposer. Staff said if the council approves a provider later, that company would have implementation responsibilities to be completed before the July 31, 2025 contract start date.