After some debate, League City City Council on Oct. 12 voted in favor of renewing a five-year contract with the city’s waste pickup provider, Ameriwaste.
Residential garbage collection fees will increase from $19.66 to $20.79 under the new contract. One of the runners-up, Frontier, would have increased rates to $22.10, Assistant City Manager Ogden “Bo” Bass said.
During public comment, Matt Graham, senior director of public development for Frontier, pointed out issues with League City’s vetting process to determine the best vendor. The process included only a paper audit and no formal interviews, Graham said.
“Without the evaluation process and not having the interviews, you don’t get a good sense of what’s going on,” he said.
Ameriwaste scored higher in the qualifications section of the audit than Frontier and another bidder, which Graham said was not explained. Frontier did not receive phone calls from the city asking for clarification or elaboration on the company’s bid, he said.
Council Member Andy Mann made a motion to postpone the vote on approving Ameriwaste as the vendor to give staff time to make sure it was the best choice.
Bass explained the city’s lengthy process for evaluating the four bidders, including Ameriwaste and Frontier. Bass explained the process was fair and objective and that after evaluating the companies on several criteria, Ameriwaste scored 834 points compared to Frontier’s 736.
Froniter’s proposal would have cost the city an additional $5.3 million compared to Ameriwaste’s, Bass said.
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“$5.3 million is hard to say no to,” he said.
Despite the explanation of the process, Mann said he still wanted to postpone the vote two weeks, saying the evaluation process was an apples-to-oranges comparison, according to Graham. Mann's motion failed with only Council Member Justin Hicks voting in favor.
Council Member Hank Dugie said Ameriwaste was the cheapest option, which is why it won. Additionally, any time the city switches service providers, there is a disruption to services.
It is “unfortunate” a vendor tried to throw a wrench into the gears at the last minute, Dugie said, referring to Graham’s public comments earlier in the meeting.
The vote to approve Ameriwaste’s contract passed 5-1 with Mann opposed. Council Members Nick Long and Larry Millican were absent.
