FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Fort Wayne’s long battle with its trash company is closer to ending.
On Wednesday, the City said three companies want to take over for Red River Waste Solutions and pick up the garbage in town.
Fort Wayne has fought with Red River for years over poor service, missed pick-ups, and piles of trash in front of people’s homes.
City Councilman Geoff Paddock says the city is reviewing the proposals from the three new companies “very, very, very closely.” Fort Wayne hopes to have a new trash company by July 1st.
The City of Fort Wayne released the following breakdown:
On Wednesday, bids were opened through the City of Fort Wayne’s electronic bidding process for the next solid waste services contract with the City of Fort Wayne.
Three companies submitted bids. They were Waste Management of Indiana, GFL Environmental USA, and Republic Services of Indiana.
Bid results are attached. The companies bid on the following items:
*Base bid – cart limit trash collection and recycling collection
*Alternate bid #1 – cart limit plus three bags of trash collection and recycling collection
*Alternate bid #2 – unlimited trash collection and recycling collection
*Additional trash cart collection
The bid specifications included items that were designed to help ensure enhanced services moving forward and a contractor with the necessary experience and past successes to meet the needs of the City of Fort Wayne.
The first item was to make sure the provider had experience working in the same size and geographic conditions (snow, ice) and alley and curbside pickup in a city the size of Fort Wayne as well as the ability to share resources from adjacent contracts they may have. Also, the hiring of existing personnel is a priority as the current drivers are familiar with the routes and we don’t want anyone to lose their jobs.
Equipment specifications are a bit different this time as a result of the condensed turnaround time on the contract and also existing supply chain issues for truck deliveries. The City used to require all new vendors to have new trucks which was when we bid the contract nearly a year before the existing contract expired. Since we are in a time constraint, we are allowing the vendors to operate used trucks so they don’t have to purchase new ones for this contract. However, we are specifying that no truck shall be older than eight years (which would be the term of the contract), so they will have to purchase new trucks at some time during the term of the contract.
Mayor Tom Henry’s Administration will work with City Council, the Board of Public Works, and the Solid Waste Advisory Board to evaluate the base bid, alternate bids, and qualifications of each bidder. Following those reviews, a bidder will be selected to try and negotiate a definitive contract for the collection of waste and recycling per the City’s bid requirements. Once a proposed contract with the selected bidder has been negotiated, the contract will be submitted to the Board of Public Works and City Council for final review and approval.
All necessary approvals are projected to be completed no later than April. It’s anticipated that the next contractor will be in position to begin operations on July 1.
