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Committee defers vote on solid-waste contract amendment after term and insourcing questions
Summary
Councilmembers questioned a proposed solid-waste contract amendment shown as 120 months; staff clarified the action before the committee is a five-year extension and reported recent insourcing gains; the committee approved a one-meeting deferral to gather additional information.
The Structure Committee deferred a vote on a proposed amendment to a solid-waste collection contract after members raised questions about the contract term and the city's insourcing trajectory.
Councilmember Parker said the notation of 120 months appeared to create a 10-year effective term and could delay council oversight across election cycles. Matt Purvis, council liaison for Metro Waste Services, said the 120 months represented the total term including time already elapsed since the original 2021 contract and that the amendment before the committee is a five-year extension. Purvis said the department had verbal agreement to move to a four-day collection schedule and that other changes bundled into the amendment were intended to standardize pricing and scope after operational changes.
Waste Services staff said the department has insourced service for nearly 50,000 households since September 2024 and estimated that those actions have saved about $5,580,000 to date. Councilmember Parker moved a one-meeting deferral to allow further review of the term language and other flexibility options; the committee approved the deferral 8-0.
Committee members asked staff for details on how much of the city's routes the contractor currently serves; staff said the contractor covers roughly 35–40% of trash customers and that Metro holds the majority of recycling service.
