Residents urge city to allow Ridwell service; city attorney reviews franchise agreement

Dozens of residents and community speakers urged the City Council on May 13 to allow Ridwell, a private subscription curbside service that collects hard-to-recycle and reusable items not accepted in curbside programs. Commenters said the service would support the city's zero-waste goals and that many residents already transport collected items to neighboring jurisdictions where Ridwell operates.

Speakers included a school-age green-team student who described large reductions in school trash after sorting and using Ridwell-style drop-off efforts, a representative of Ridwell and a representative of SV at Home. Supporters emphasized convenience, environmental benefit and that Ridwell would not be a city cost because residents pay the subscription fee.

Several speakers said the current franchise agreement with Recology contains an exception for pilot programs and that Ridwell's pilot proposal does not conflict with Recology's exclusive curbside franchise. Others said Recology has opposed Ridwell's entry. City staff and Recology representatives were not allocated a formal presentation during public comment.

City Attorney Jennifer Logue told the council the city attorney's office is taking the matter seriously and is conducting a thorough legal review of the solid-waste franchise agreement. She said the city had received a letter from Recology's counsel asserting that allowing Ridwell to operate in Mountain View would violate the franchise. Logue said staff is preparing a confidential legal memorandum for council that will lay out options and that the review may take a month or two given competing workloads.

Residents urged the council to schedule a meeting with Ridwell and to resolve the matter quickly; staff said the city will complete its legal review and report back to council.