Council considers amendment to hire consultants for curbside trash procurement

At the March 10 deliberative meeting, council discussed Resolution 33, an amendment to the city's existing agreement with Mid Atlantic Solid Waste Consultants LLC (doing business as MSW Consultants). The amendment would add professional consultation services to help modify the procurement package for the city's curbside trash collection services.

City staff said MSW Consultants are industry specialists who advised that the city needs to “speak the same language as the industry” when drafting bid specifications to attract competitive responses. Staff noted that the city’s garbage contract expires at the end of the year, making the upcoming RFP one of the most cost-significant procurements the city will undertake. The firm’s scope discussed at the kickoff meeting included route and sweep-street optimization and tightening the RFP language to avoid bid-price shocks similar to neighboring jurisdictions.

No final vote on Resolution 33 is recorded in the March 10 transcript; staff described the amendment as a step to prepare more robust bid specifications prior to issuing the RFP later in the year.