Palm Beach Solid Waste Authority denies Waste Pro’s waiver request; board votes 4–3 to proceed to price opening

Waste Pro’s protest of its disqualification from a multimillion-dollar Solid Waste Authority (SWA) procurement was denied by the SWA board after staff concluded the company failed to provide required documentary evidence that it made sufficient, documented good‑faith efforts to reach certified small business enterprises (SBEs).

Miss Barnes, a Waste Pro consultant, told the board that Waste Pro emailed and telephoned nearly 1,000 SBEs using a Mailchimp landing page and paid social advertising but drew only 33 SBEs to an outreach event. "Unfortunately, we only had 33 SBE showed up for the event," she said, and argued that the company had tried to identify additional SBE service lines (towing, lab testing) that could be used in the contract.

Staff and the board focused on whether Waste Pro’s waiver submission met the solicitation’s defined waiver criteria. Miss Robbs, EBO program staff, summarized the waiver scoring rubric: sections a–e total 100 points and a waiver requires 70 points to pass. "Because they received 36 points, their waiver failed to meet the 70 requirement, and so this has been denied," she said, citing missing documentation of required follow‑up communications, element‑specific service descriptions (NIGP codes), and written negotiations with identified SBEs.

Waste Pro’s counsel, Amy Shea, urged the board to consider the company’s long record of employing county residents and to weigh whether other bidders used temporary labor agencies to reach SBE percentages. She argued that checking a box with temporary agencies would have been cheaper but would not have preserved employee benefits and training that Waste Pro provides.

Board members split over process and fairness. Several members said they defer to staff’s procurement review and the requirement that the waiver documentation be complete. Commissioners dissenting from the denial emphasized concern about local employment and urged future review of whether temporary labor should count toward SBE credit.

Commissioner Flores moved to deny Waste Pro’s protest and to declare five other bidders responsive so staff could proceed with sealed price openings. The board approved the motion 4–3 (Vice Mayor Woodward — Yes; Commissioner Flores — Yes; Commissioner Powell — No; Mayor Baxter — No; Commissioner Marino — Yes; Commissioner Sacks — No; Commissioner Wise — Yes). Staff will open price envelopes on Feb. 2 and return prices and tabulations to the board at its Feb. 11 meeting.

Background and context: The procurement required a 20% SBE subcontracting participation goal. Witnesses and staff described a policy change that consolidated MWBE categories into the SBE category; some previously eligible MWBE subcontractors were unable to qualify as SBEs because of local or SBA size standards. Staff noted variable threshold limits by agency (for example, Palm Beach County service thresholds cited in the presentation included $5,700,000 for services and $13,000,000 for construction) and emphasized that the waiver is evaluated on whether a bidder documented good‑faith outreach and negotiations, not solely on the final subcontracting percentage.

What comes next: With the denial of Waste Pro’s protest, staff will proceed to open price envelopes on Feb. 2 and return the price results to the board for final action on Feb. 11. Waste Pro may pursue judicial remedies; staff told the board the circuit court is the next forum for formal procurement challenges.