Bloomfield Hills commission directs negotiations with Express Waste Services after sustained complaints about service

Bloomfield Hills — At the Bloomfield Hills City Commission’s Jan. 13 meeting, commissioners voted to direct city staff to begin contract negotiations with Express Waste Services to provide residential solid-waste and recycling services, conditioned on Express agreeing to terms consistent with the city’s request for proposals (RFP) and the city’s stated priorities.

The decision followed extended public and commissioner exchanges about last year’s service problems under the incumbent, Priority Waste. Commissioners and several residents described repeated missed pickups, duplicated billing and slow customer-service response times. Commissioner Fisher said she wanted a new provider to try and "see what we can get done," and moved to select Express to enter negotiations. The motion was seconded and approved; the commission instructed staff to return a negotiated contract for review at the February meeting with a target service start of April 1, 2026. Commissioners emphasized that Priority Waste must continue to fulfill its contract until any new agreement takes effect.

Priority Waste’s representative, Dan Venet, told the commission the company has worked to fix the problems and attributed much of last year’s disruption to parts shortages and aging mini trucks used for door‑side and inside service. "We're averaging three or so mistops a day, which is far below what you would say is like an average for the industry," Venet said, and described a company-wide truck order placed in August to modernize its fleet.

Express Waste Services’ representative, Dan Garmin, said Express would supply new or nearly new equipment and an experienced operations team. "Everything would be brand new," Garmin said. He told commissioners Express planned to dedicate multiple mini trucks to Bloomfield Hills, hire local supervisors with municipal experience, and prioritize a high level of customer service and accurate billing.

The commission’s motion to select Express was explicit that negotiations must yield contract terms acceptable to the city and consistent with the RFP; commissioners asked that the agreement include performance measures, cure periods and remedies for missed service. Staff said they would work with the city attorney on contract language and bring a final contract back for commission approval in February.

What’s next: Staff will negotiate contract language with Express Waste Services and return a proposed agreement at the commission’s February meeting. The current provider, Priority Waste, will continue to serve the city until a new contract is in place or other arrangements are approved.