Council approves short-term landfill agreement with Waste Management; new contract lowers first-year tipping fee

The City Council approved Resolution 2026-143 on June 9 authorizing a landfill service agreement with Waste Management of Nebraska to begin July 1 as an interim disposal arrangement. Public Works Director Dan Gillis said the contract is a bridge while the city prepares an RFP for a longer-term local transfer-station solution.

Gillis told the council the city currently pays $51 per ton to Waste Connections and that the negotiated first-year rate with Waste Management is $38 per ton; the lower rate is intended to help offset additional haul distance for licensed haulers, who will be required to travel farther under the interim arrangement. "Right now, we pay $51 a ton to Waste Connections. Waste Management is gonna charge $38 a ton for their first year," Gillis said. He added the city will keep residents' household-waste options, and that some facilities (for example, Pheasant Point) have different rules about items such as tires.

Staff said the agreement yields more disposal options than the city has had under the 33-year-old Waste Connections arrangement and that an RFP is expected in the next month or two. The RFP will include two procurement tracks: one where a bidder builds and operates a local transfer station and another where the city builds and owns a facility and a bidder operates it. Council voted 8–0 to receive the pricing exhibit, approve the agreement and move forward.

Next steps: staff will circulate the RFP and return with recommendations for a longer-term contract or city-owned transfer station; staff also noted ordinance changes will be required to implement the new hauling and disposal arrangement.