Agenda Item Wording:
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Approval of Landfill Disposal Agreement - Authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the County of Tulare for disposal of solid waste collected by the City of Visalia Solid Waste Department. The agreement includes the disposal fee of $28 per ton and provisions for a CPI increase of up to 3% per year if an associated rate increase is applied to the general gate rate.
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Deadline for Action: 4/15/2024
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number: Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, 713-4533, jason.serpa@visalia.city; Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, 713-4052, nick.bartsch@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that Council approve a 10-year agreement with two (2) optional 5-year renewal periods with the County of Tulare for disposal of solid waste refuse collected by the City of Visalia’s Solid Waste Department. The agreement includes a disposal fee of $28 per ton and provisions for a CPI increase of up to 3% per year if an associated rate increase is applied to the general gate rate.
Background Discussion:
The City of Visalia Solid Waste Department provides solid waste service within the City limits and serves over 42,000 residential and 3,500 commercial customers. In 2023, nearly 140,000 tons of material was collected, including 34,000 tons of green and food waste, 18,500 tons of recyclable material, and 87,000 tons of general refuse. Although recyclable materials, including blue and green recyclables, are taken to the City’s contracted recyclers, general refuse is taken to one of two Tulare County landfill sites just outside the City limits. This includes the main landfill site at 8614 Avenue 328, and the newly reopened Woodville landfill site at 19800 Road 152 in Tulare.
Since 2015, the City has had a multi-year disposal agreement with Tulare County that authorized the City to dispose of refuse collected within the City limits at the County’s landfill at $28 per ton. In comparison to the posted general gate rate of $34 per ton, this agreement has served the City in a savings of $6 per ton. The current agreement expires on June 30, 2024.
The current proposed agreement is identical to the previous apart from City standard CPI language that the City’s Finance Department asked to be included. The CPI language included in the new agreement authorizes a rate adjustment based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) U.S. City Average, All Items. This language differs from the County CPI language that used a blended average of two different indexes. The agreement also specifies that the disposal rate per ton shall only be adjusted in conjunction with an increase of the posted gate rates established by the County and approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The disposal rate proposed will continue to be the same rate as the expiring agreement, at $28 per ton. Due to the gate rate trigger and the maximum CPI increase allowed of 3% per occurrence, this ensures that the disposal rate for the City of Visalia will always be lower than the general gate rate.
Fiscal Impact:
The cost of this agreement will be paid through the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441) and is included in the various operating division budgets within the fund. Based on previous year data, the current anticipated annual cost will be $2.51 million between all commercial and residential divisions. For reference, the previous 3 years of costs and current year projected between all divisions is as follows:
No appropriation is needed as these costs are included in the yearly operating budget for the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund and increased yearly to account for City growth.
Prior Council Action: 6/17/2019 - Council approval of a 5-year agreement with Tulare County.
Other: Once approved by City Council, this agreement will be taken for action at the County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 30th, 2024. Once approval from both parties has been obtained, final signatures will be applied, and agreement will commence on July 1, 2024.
Alternatives: To not authorize the City Manager to enter into agreement with Tulare County for use of the County’s disposal site and seek alternatives. This alternative is not recommended as it would result in higher cost and/or significant impacts to the operational efficiency of the Solid Waste Division.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to enter into a 10-year agreement with Tulare County, with two optional additional 5-year renewal periods, for refuse disposal at the County’s landfill sites.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments: Tulare County Waste Disposal Agreement