Poulsbo council votes to begin bidding process to outsource solid-waste collection

The Poulsbo City Council on Sept. 10 voted to open a formal procurement to outsource the city's solid-waste collection service, approving Resolution 2025-12 after a presentation from Public Works Director Diane Linnaeus and discussion about costs, staffing and equipment.

Linneus told the council that an evaluation by a financial consultant showed “it appears that it could be more cost effective to the customer to outsource solid waste.” She said smaller jurisdictions often pay more to operate collection and that larger or specialized haulers can achieve lower per-customer costs.

The council's discussion focused on next steps and risks rather than debating whether to seek bids. Linnaeus said the formal procurement and review process will likely take about a year and warned that equipment lead times could extend the timetable: “The process to outsource will take a year to go through the proposal process in a thorough method...the order time on a piece of equipment is 18 months by itself.” City Administrator Rob Gelder and Linnaeus said the city will include requirements in the request for…