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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRenton RFP - Addendum 2 - Attach A - Proposer QA Round 21 City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action RFP: Section 2 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the historical rate increase percentages for the past 5 years? The current contractor payment rates have increased by 1%, 6.3%, 8%, 4.5%, and 3.6% for years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. None RFP: Section 2 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide where recyclable and compostable material is taken for proper processing currently? Additionally, can the City please provide the cost associated/ton to deliver materials to these locations? The current contractor hauls all recyclables from carts and detachable containers to the contractor’s MRF in Seattle. Recyclables from commercial drop box containers are primarily hauled to the contractor’s Seattle MRF and transfer station in Renton. The contractor takes organics to Cedar Grove Composting’s facility at 17825 Cedar Grove Rd SE, Four Lakes, Maple Valley, WA 98038. The city does not have information on the cost per ton to deliver these materials to the processing facilities. None RFP: Section 2 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the current labor union agreement for staff dedicated to the services described within the RFP? The city does not have this information. None RFP: Section 2 [Cedar Grove] Can a great percentage of garbage be taken to the king county renton transfer station than the present 60%? Yes. None RFP: Section 5.C.7 [Recology] On page 12 of the RFP, the headers go from C.5 Route Management to C.7 Missed Pickup Response. Did the City intend to have a section for C.6, or was the RFP misnumbered? The RFP was misnumbered. This correction has been provided in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment B. Revised RFP. RFP: Section 5.E.3 [WM] Would the City consider limiting the disclosure to U.S.-based operations and personnel? As specified in RFP Section 5.E.3, disclosures are limited to Pacific Northwest operations and personnel. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 2 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action RFP: Section 5.F.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further detail as to how the incumbent currently provides customer service functions such as number of personnel, location of services (local or call center), type/developer of mobile application, and type/developer of website? The current contract provides customer services via an office in downtown Renton and an out-of-area call center. The city does not have information about the current contractor’s number of customer service personnel, type/developer of mobile application, or type/developer of website. None RFP: Section 5.F.2 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of personnel currently designated by the incumbent for these services under the current contract? The city does not have this information. None RFP: Section 6.1 [WM] The base RFP requirements are innovative but come with significant cost implications. If a hauler proposes alternative solutions that generate cost savings while still meeting the City's service goals, would the City be open to considering these alternatives as part of the qualitative scoring criteria? Yes, as described in RFP Sections 3.4 and 6.2, the city encourages and will reward proposer variations that reduce costs or improve services for the city’s customers. None Proposal Price Form [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please clarify as to why the number of units for Every Other Week Garbage, Every Other Week Recycling, and Weekly Compost are different? These customer variances are less than 1% and could reflect that garbage service in Renton is mandatory but recycling and organics services are not. The city does not have further specifics. None Proposal Price Form [FCC Environmental Services] According to the frequencies for Non-Compact Detach garbage containers, the service is provided at a maximum of 5 days per week. Can the City please clarify the number of services that are required to be performed on Saturdays? The draft contract provides for commercial and multifamily collection if needed on Saturday, but the draft contract does not require any collection services on Saturday. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 3 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Draft Base Contract: Section 4.9 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of customers that have been suspended by the Contractor over the past 3 years? 3,213 customers have been suspended from July 2022 through June 2025. In June 2025 alone, 484 customers had suspended accounts. None Draft Base Contract: Section 4.15 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please specify any pilot programs that have occurred over the current contract and if there are any plans for future pilot programs that would occur during the upcoming contract? In 2018, the city led a pilot program to test different recycling contamination reduction strategies at 14 multifamily properties. The city does not currently have any plans to pilot new programs during the upcoming contract. None Draft Base Contract: Section 4.17 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the Strike Contingency plan provided by the incumbent? Yes. This information has been provided in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: Strike Contingency Plan. Draft Base Contract: Section 4.17 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide instances in which the incumbent has not been able to provide all services under the current agreement due to Labor Disruption? Can the City please provide further details as to the length of time involved with each instance? Under the current contract, there have been 3 labor disruptions by contractor staff. The current contractor’s labor disruptions in 2019, 2022, and 2025 lasted 2, 4, and 12 days, respectively. None Draft Base Contract: Section 6.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the fleet inventory report provided by the incumbent that outlines the vehicles by unit number that provide the services under the current agreement? Yes. This information has been provided in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: Contractor Fleet Inventory. Draft Base Contract: Section 6.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the name of the GPS and onboard computer and data tracking system currently used by the incumbent? The city does not have this information. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 4 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Draft Base Contract: Section 6.5 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide example images of covers that are required for drop-boxes? Can the City additionally clarify if covers are already on the current containers in the field? Some drop-box containers currently in service have covers. Below is an example image of a drop box cover currently in service: None Draft Base Contract: Section 6.6 [WM] The Draft Contract states in Section 6.6 that “[a]ny remaining warranties associated with the Containers described herein shall be transferred to the City or its assignee” upon transfer of ownership of certain Containers at the end of the Contract Term or if the Contract is terminated. However, Section 6.6 also says that the City accepts the Containers “as-is, where-is” and without warranty. Would the City consider deleting the statement indicating that warranties will be transferred to avoid ambiguity or clarify that any remaining warranties are limited to those warranties provided to the Contractor from third-party manufacturers? Yes. The city has clarified the reference to manufacturers’ warranties. Section 6.6 has been updated—see RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment C. Revised Draft Base Contract. Draft Base Contract: Section 6.7 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please clarify if the colors stated in this section are correct? It seems that the colors for garbage and yard waste for single family For the base proposals, the colors stated are correct – residential and commercial garbage and compostables carts will not be consistent in color. However, as described in RFP Section 3.3 on Alternatives, all proposers are to provide alternative pricing for swapping None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 5 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action are switched compared to multifamily and commercial. out all residential garbage and compostables carts to allow for consistent container colors across all customers sectors. Draft Base Contract: Section 6.7 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please clarify what color detachable containers and drop-boxes in service are currently? Current detachable and drop box containers for recyclables are blue. Current detachable and drop box containers for garbage are gray. None Draft Base Contract: Section 6.10 [Recology] Is this section intended to only apply to commercial customers? This section on container lockability is intended to apply to multifamily and commercial customers. This information has been updated in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment C. Revised Draft Base Contract. Draft Base Contract: Section 7.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of plastic bags or cans that have been collected by month for the past 2 years which would receive additional unit payment? Yes. This information has been provided in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment D. Revised Current Services Data under the new “Extra SF Garbage Units” tab. Draft Base Contract: Section 7.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of extra units, recyclables, and yard debris are collected on average per month? The average number of extra units of garbage set out by single-family customers over the last two years is 1,891 per month. Under the current contract, extra units of garbage are charged to single-family customers in 15- gallon increments. The city does not have information about extra units of recyclables or yard debris because there is no charge for these extra materials. This information has been provided in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment D. Revised Current Services Data under the new “Extra SF Garbage Units” tab. Draft Base Contract: Section 7.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please clarify what is meant by subscribing single family residence customers? Does this mean that Residents can opt to not participate in these services? If so, can the Renton city code requires all residents and occupied properties to subscribe to garbage collection through the city’s contracted hauler. The only customers that can waive this requirement are those that can None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 6 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action City please provide the number of subscribing units for the past 3 years for each material type? demonstrate that a person or property produces no garbage or recyclables. Draft Base Contract: Section 7.2 and 7.3 [WM] Does the city have a count of how many customers have more than two carts for recycle and compost? 545 single-family customers have additional recyclables carts. 327 single-family customers have additional compostables carts. None Draft Base Contract: Section 7.2 and 7.3 [WM] Is it the city’s intention to have unlimited embedded compost and recycling, no charges for extras beyond the second cart? The city expects to charge customers an additional monthly fee for their second cart for recyclables or compostables, but the city does not expect to charge for extra recyclables or compostables that are properly prepared and set out next to a cart. As described in Sections 7.2 and 7.3 of the draft base contract and in the Proposal Price Form, the city will pay the contractor an additional monthly fee for servicing second recycling and compostables carts. None Draft Base Contract: Section 8.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide a further detailed breakdown of detachable containers that are serviced by rear load and front load inclusive of quantity, size, and service frequency per week? The city does not have this information. None Draft Base Contract: Section 9.4 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please clarify where collected bulk material is currently taken for disposal/processing? Can the City please provide the associated cost/ton or per item as it relates to this? Bulky waste disposed as garbage is delivered to county transfer stations. Recyclable bulky waste is processed by the contractor. The 2025 disposal tip fee for haulers is $179/ton. The city does not have information on recycling costs for bulky waste. None Draft Base Contract: Section 9.4 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of on-call Bulky Waste and Special Item request by month for the past 2 years? RFP Attachment D. Current Services Data provides the total units of on-call bulky waste collected from July 2023 through June 2025. The city does not have information on special item recycling requests. Additional information on bulky waste collection has been provided in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment D. Revised Current Services Data under “Miscellaneous Fees.” City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 7 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Draft Base Contract: Section 10 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the current number of outreach specialists dedicated to the City’s services? The current contractor does not have any outreach specialists dedicated exclusively to the Renton’s services. None Draft Base Contract: Section 10.2 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further information as to how waste audits are currently conducted including number of staff, approach of audit, and frequency of audit? The current contractor does not audit waste services at multifamily properties. None Draft Base Contract: Section 10.4 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the average number of people that attend the City events? The amount of people who attend city events varies according to the scale and popularity of the event. The draft base contract requires the contractor to provide outreach at Renton River Days, the city’s largest festival. Average annual attendance at this event is 25,000- 30,000 people. The city also sponsors events such as Arbor Earth Day, which averages 400 attendees, and the farmers market, which averages 2,300 attendees per day. None Draft Base Contract: Section 10.4 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further details as to the collection of vegetative storm debris generated at City facilities inclusive of volume in tons and instances of additional material? In November 2024, a bomb cyclone event generated a large amount of vegetative debris throughout Renton and neighboring areas. The current contractor provided two 30-yard drop-box containers for vegetative storm debris generated at city parks. The contractor hauled the drop-box containers four times and collected a total of 240 cubic yards of vegetative debris from the storm event. The combined weight of the first 120 cubic yards was 14.81 tons. The city does not know the tonnage for the other 120 cubic yards that were collected. None Draft Base Contract: Section 11.3 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide historical detail to special drop-off collection event inclusive of number of personnel, number of containers, number As described in RFP Attachment E. Responses to Industry Review Comments, the city's current contractor presently staffs one recycling collection event per year and only collects scrap metal at that event. Scrap metal tonnage has varied between 10-12 tons per annual event None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 8 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action of hauls/services, type of materials received, etc.? for the last 3 years. There are approximately 12 contractor employees (including 2 contractor drivers) per annual event. Draft Base Contract: Section 11.4 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the service details for each public sidewalk container location by quantity and frequency of service per week? All public sidewalk containers are collected at least once a week. The 13 public sidewalk containers at the Renton Transit Center in downtown Renton are collected five days a week. Most public sidewalk containers are collected Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. None Draft Base Contract: Section 11.4 [Recology] Does the City have an ideal or target schedule for rolling out the additional 26 garbage and 25 recycle litter cans to the current list of cans being serviced? The city does not have an ideal or target schedule for adding additional garbage and recycling sidewalk litter containers. None Draft Base Contract: Section 11.4 [Recology] Does the City have any interest in adding a scheduled litter abatement service to the current Sidewalk container service needs? The city does not have immediate plans for additional litter pickup, but the city encourages and will reward proposer variations, as described in RFP Section 3.4, that provide significant benefit to the city and its customers. None Draft Base Contract: Section 12.1 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further clarity as to the Contractor’s involvement regarding billing and invoicing? Number 9 of this section states that the Contractor will record credits applied to Customer accounts. Additionally, under section 14.7 Reporting, item 2.4, there is a requirement that the Contractor will record the total number of customers paying bills online. The city will perform all customer invoicing and billing. However, the city anticipates the contractor will initiate some customer credits, as related to service adjustments or service inquiries from customers. These adjustments would be submitted electronically to the city for implementation on customer bills. The reference to tracking online billing is an error and will be corrected in the final negotiated contract. None Draft Base Contract: Section 14.2 [WM] Would the City be willing to provide that Contractor will make good faith efforts to provide access to processing facilities not owned or operated by the Contractor? Yes None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 9 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Draft Base Contract: Section 14.3 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the most recent Operations Plan provided by the incumbent? The current contract does not require the contractor to provide a general operations plan. None Draft Base Contract: Section 14.5 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the number of instances in which the incumbent has participated in City- led disaster debris collection? The city has not asked the current contractor to assist in any disaster debris collection. The city has not conducted any disaster debris response training exercises with the current contractor. None Draft Base Contract: Section 15 [WM] Would the City consider the ability for the Contractor to request a rate adjustment for circumstances out of the Contractor’s control that materially impact the cost of service so that the parties have a discussion when these issues arise? Section 15 of the draft base contract details several specific circumstances that could provide for potential rate adjustment. The city also encourages proposer variations, as described in RFP Section 3.4, that reduce costs or improve services for the City’s customers. None Draft Base Contract: Section [WM] In the new contract, will the City pay the B&O taxes to the state? Yes. The city will pay state B&O taxes on gross revenue from all city solid waste services. The contractor will only pay taxes that are owed on their own contract revenues. Information on the parties’ tax responsibilities has been updated in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment B. Revised RFP and RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment C. Revised Draft Base Contract. Draft Base Contract: Section [WM] On average, what are the current haulers residual rates for the city for the recycling and yard waste? The current contractor’s reported recycling composition is provided in RFP Attachment D. Current Services Data. The city does have residual data for yard waste. None Draft Base Contract: Section [WM] Would the City consider specifying that the performance fees apply to intentional misrepresentation in records or reporting? As written, the performance fee could apply to scrivener’s errors in reports? The city may consider clarifying this language in final contract negotiations. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 10 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Draft Base Contract: Section [WM] The Contract states that performance fees are reasonable estimates of the damages sustained by the City as a result of the Contractor’s failure to perform its duties under the Contract satisfactorily. Item 27 provides that the performance fee is a $100 performance fee plus actual damages, would be duplicative based on the stated intent of performance fees. Would the City consider removing the performance fees for the miscellaneous category and solely seek damages for failure to fulfill Contract requirements? The city may consider clarifying this language in final contract negotiations. None Draft Base Contract: Section 17.7 [WM] Would the City be willing to specify that the section applies to the Contractor’s non- privileged records? The city may consider clarifying this language in final contract negotiations. None Draft Base Contract: Section 17.8 [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please confirm if a labor company for helpers would constitute as a subcontractor? A staffing agency providing personnel might not qualify as a subcontractor, but—as described in section 17.8.2 of the draft base contract—all assignees, subcontractors, and obligors must abide by all terms and conditions of the contract. None Draft Base Contract: Exhibit A [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide a map of the service area with highlighted section and unit totals by service day? The city can provide a map showing which single-family customers have collections on each weekday, but the city does not have information on the unit totals per service day. This information has been provided in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: Single-family Collection Maps. Draft Base Contract: Exhibit C [Recology] Would the City be interested in expanding this list to include additional on- call curbside collection of special materials to be recycled, such as Styrofoam or batteries? The city will consider proposals that expand the list of on-call recyclable materials. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 11 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Price Proposal Form [Cedar Grove] Base rates-To confirm, the city of renton will pay the garbage disposal fee and these costs should not be included in the proposed rates whereas the costs to process/dispose of recyclables and organics are to be included? If as I.1 states this is a cost ofp service model, why would there be a different approach for recyclables and organics when the cost structure is cost per ton like garbage? The disposal and processing costs are handled differently because disposal pricing per ton is authorized universally by King County Council for all cities and providers, while pricing for processing recyclables and compostables is set either by internal accounting of the contractor or by agreement between the contractor and a private processing facility. None Price Proposal Form [Cedar Grove] Should the proposal price for compacted containers - multiple frequencies (rows 85-89) be per count (haul) rather than per month as the counts in column B are based on counts per week? As specified in the asterisk (*) footnote on the Proposal Price Form, the pricing for servicing compacted containers, in rows 75-78, should be entered as the monthly price for weekly service. If containers are serviced 3x/week, then the contractor payment is 3x the payment for weekly service. None Price Proposal Form [Cedar Grove] Over 25% of the recyclables are residuals. Will the city of renton pay the invoices for their disposal or will this be a cost borne by the proposer and therefore included in proposed rate? As described in RFP sections 3.2 and 5.I.1, the contractor is to pay for the disposal of residuals. None Current Services Data [Cedar Grove] The total containers in this response shows 17, but the total weekly single family garage customer totals 728. What constitues the 711 container difference? As shown in the “Cust & Cont Counts Dec 2024” tab of the Current Services Data, there were 728 single-family customers in December 2024 with weekly garbage service. 26 customers have 20-gal carts, 107 customers have 35-gal carts, 142 customers have 45-gal carts, 201 customers have 64-gal carts, and 252 customers have 96-gal carts. As stated in RFP Addendum 1 – Attachment A – Proposer Q&A Round 1, of these 728 customers with weekly garbage service, 1 customer has an extra 32-gal cart, 2 customers have extra 64-gal carts, and 14 customers have extra 96-gal carts. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 12 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Current Services Data [Cedar Grove] Are all the containers, carts and cans, located at city facilities incluyded in the commercial service container count that the city provided or are they in addition to? All containers at city facilities are included in the total commercial container counts provided in the “Current Services Data” file. None Current Services Data [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City provide any further detail as to participation rates for residential units for each type of material? The city does not have information on residential set-out rates. None Current Services Data [FCC Environmental Services] According to the Compacted Detachable Container table, the only information provided is the number of customers and containers by size. Can the City please provide the frequency of collection for these containers? Yes. Additional information on collection frequency has been provided in RFP Addendum 2 - Attachment D. Revised Current Services Data under “Cust & Cont Counts Apr 2025.” Current Services Data [FCC Environmental Services] In order to analyze the current level of service provided, could the City please provide tonnage reports (or disposal tickets), by day and by truck identification or load identification for the years 2023 and 2024 for each waste stream and each service area? Yes, the city can provide garbage tonnage reports by day and by truck for that period, but the city does not have daily tonnage reports for recyclables or compostables truck loads. This information has been provided in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: 2023-2024 Garbage Disposal Invoices. Current Services Data [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further information as to the current level of service including number of routes and types of vehicles to collect each material type by day? The city does not have this information. None Current Services Data [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide further detail as to the total number of cart requests by day and by month for the past 2 years? The city does not have this information. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 13 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action Responses to Industry Review [FCC Environmental Services] The City states that there are 150 customers currently serviced by tight access vehicles. Can the City please provide a breakdown of these units by service day and designation (SF, MF, COMM) The city does not have this information. None Proposer Q&A Round 1 [Cedar Grove] What were the City identified challenges with the segregation of single- family recycling services? The city’s response for Q&A Round 1 clarified that the city did not see significant risk in separating recycling payments for residential services and that the challenges with separate payments for multifamily and/or commercial recycling services could include efficient service deployment, accurate invoice review, and effective retail rate setting. None N/A [Cedar Grove] Can the number and type of trucks curently servicing the city of Renton be provided? Yes. This information has been provided in in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: Contractor Fleet Inventory. N/A [Cedar Grove] Can the number and classification of employees currently servicing the city of Renton be provided? The city does not have this information. None N/A [Cedar Grove] Can the city provide an electrionic commercial/multifamily customer list with addresses for all container accounts including roll-off? The city does not have this information. None N/A [Recology] Would the hauler bill the customer for recycle and C&D debris box business? The city will bill customers for garbage and recycling drop-box container services provided through the contract. All open market C&D and recycling services provided to customers will be billed by the provider. None N/A [Recology] Does the City have any interest in having a permanent special-item drop-off location in the City for items beyond those Yes, the city requests details for any proposed special item enhancements under RFP Section 5.G.1. None City of Renton RFP for Solid Waste Services Addendum 2 – Attachment A. Proposer Q&A Round 2 14 Document Hauler Name and Comment City Response City Action accepted in curbside containers to be collected for recycling? N/A [FCC Environmental Services] Can the City please provide the most recent 6 months of invoices paid to the current Contractor for the detailed services under this agreement? Yes. This information has been provided in RFP Details Updated – 8-14-2025: 2025 Contractor Invoices.