Keller council selects CWD for five‑year trash and recycling franchise after close competition

Keller — The City Council voted June 16 to authorize the city manager to execute a five‑year franchise agreement with CWD for citywide solid waste collection and recycling services, beginning Sept. 1, 2026, with a five‑year renewal option. The motion passed in a 5‑in‑favor, 0‑opposed vote with one abstention; council directed staff to return a final ordinance and contract for adoption on July 7.

The decision followed a competitive procurement process in which staff received five proposals and advanced two finalists—Frontier (recently acquired by GFL) and CWD—for best‑and‑final offers. At a work session before the formal meeting, each finalist gave a detailed presentation on operations, transition plans and customer service. CWD emphasized its compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet, local transfer‑station capacity and an in‑house household‑hazardous‑waste (HHW) program. Frontier highlighted its municipal transition playbook, staging and outreach plans and a customer‑service platform.

Staff’s summary to council noted the proposals’ principal differences: CWD proposed keeping existing service levels (twice‑weekly trash, weekly recycling and weekly yard waste) with a residential rate increase roughly 14.1% (about $2.83 per month); Frontier proposed a smaller residential increase (about 3.3%) but would move to rolling‑cart recycling and reduce the number of special seasonal leaf collection dates from eight to four while adding weekly bulk capacity. Staff also reported results from a resident survey showing high satisfaction: about 92% of respondents said they were satisfied with current service levels and a majority opposed cutting frequency of service.

Councilors focused questions on program details that would affect residents: HHW collection schedules, leaf‑collection frequency and response plans for storm debris. CWD’s Jason Raimer described his company’s HHW approach: “The program that we're offering the city of Keller is a once per month or 12 times per year, HHW and used electronics collection,” with residents requesting a kit and scheduled pickups. He also said CWD’s industrial cart‑wash truck can service durable poly carts used in municipal programs.

Frontier representatives stressed transition planning and public education, including a city‑branded packet delivered to every household and a web/app platform to manage resident requests. Frontier’s presenters said their Texas operations will remain locally staffed and that their acquisition by GFL will provide additional back‑up resources for major incidents.

Council members who supported CWD cited the company’s local investments, CNG fleet (lower fuel‑emission profile) and demonstrated improvement in customer service since the last contract period. Several councilors noted the RFP scoring and resident survey results in their comments. Others praised Frontier’s proposal and asked staff to keep innovation options—like underground containers—on future radar.

Next steps: staff will finalize the franchise agreement and present it with any needed UDC updates at the July 7 meeting for formal adoption. The contract will include standard reporting and service‑level accountability clauses; staff said the first two contract years will be fixed, with limited caps on later increases as laid out in the proposals.