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El Campo City Council tables three-year extension of solid-waste contract with Texas Disposal Systems
Summary
The El Campo City Council voted to table a resolution to extend Texas Disposal Systems's contract for three years after members said the full council should review proposals; city staff said the motion before the council was only to exercise a contract renewal clause and that any award would be considered in June.
The El Campo City Council on an evening meeting tabled Resolution R2026-23, which would have extended the city's solid-waste collection and disposal contract with Texas Disposal Systems for an additional three years.
Council discussion centered on whether the council should simply exercise a three-year renewal clause in the existing contract or allow a new award process to consider other providers. Staff told the council the current contract contains a three-year extension clause that must be addressed now and that, if the extension is denied, the city would return in June with a contract award after soliciting proposals.
One council member said the full council should be able to review competing proposals before effectively committing to a single provider for another multi-year term. "When I'm gonna ace out a local company, I want to have a real good reason to do it," the council member said during debate, urging delay so every councilor could see the information.
James Griffin of Texas Disposal Systems, who spoke during public comment, praised his firm's five-year partnership with the city and highlighted what he described as strong communication between company staff and the council. "We're coming up on five years of partnership with the city of El Campo," Griffin said, adding that TDS has not paid any contract penalties during that time.
Ann Ramos, environmental health and safety director at Lido Cabinets, told the council her company faces substantially higher waste costs in El Campo than at a sister facility in East Bernard and provided comparative figures she said show the difference. "In the last ten months, we've paid over $237,000 to Texas Disposal," Ramos said, urging council members to consider the financial impact on small local businesses.
After debate, a motion to table R2026-23 until the next meeting passed; council did not take a final vote on the contract extension that night. City staff said that if the extension is denied, a new award could be considered in June and that staff can provide further comparative rate information before then.
