08-28-2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 6 Lynn Lantrip with Solid Waste Selection explained what was going on in Paris with regard to solid waste collection and reviewed the procurement process. He pointed out one point of overall difference being the interviews of the two companies. He explained the interview questions were the key and specifically, the question of how many customer service representative do you intend to add? He said it was important that service representatives be available to answer calls and questions. Mr. Lantrip said the scoring committee was extremely impressed by responses from CARDS. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj said he would like to hear from his colleagues about excluding taxing entities because he had received several phones calls about this. Mayor Hughes, Council Member Kessel, and Council Member Savage said they had received calls too about excluding taxing entities and businesses. Mr. Path said they could authorize a contract change to exclude taxing entities such as school districts, the college and the county. Council Member Norment said business owners should be allowed to choose whom they wanted for their service. Council Member Kessel said Mr. Lantrip said most cities included commercial and residential, and asked Mr. Lantrip about that. Mr. Lantrip said nearly all of them included commercial and residential and added that many years ago Ft.Worth was the only city that did not, but they had over 230,000 residences. Mr. Path said if taxing entities were not included, they would not have the protection the City would have. Council Member Moore wanted to know if they could defer this decision to a later date. Mr. Path said Council could table the item or make a decision at this meeting. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj said from the business side and from being a part of the committee, he truly believed this committee was doing what was best for the business community and the citizens. He said had they only bid residential, they would not have gotten bids. Council Member Pilgrim said he heard from a number of his constituents, had received some of their bills and they were comparable. He inquired if a 5% increase every year was common. Mr. Lantrip said 5% was the cap. Council Member Pilgrim said this needed to be done, and expressed appreciation to the committee. He asked Mr. Path if the City trash service was being subsidized. Mr. Path said it was barely supporting itself and in another year, they would be looking at another rate increase. Council Member Pilgrim said they had to understand that a private company could do it better and more efficient and for the City to continue the service did not make sense for the taxpayers. Mayor Hughes allowed Wayne Kerby and John Schaffer to address the Council. City Council continued their discussions, which included the landfill, continuing bulk pickup, dropping off brush, and selling old trucks and equipment. A Motion to table this item pending more due diligence was made by Council Member Norment and seconded by Council Member Moore. Motion failed, 2 ayes — 5 nays, with Mayor Hughes, Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj, Council Member Savage, Council Member Kessel and Council Member Pilgrim casting the dissenting votes. A Motion to award the contract to CARDS with the exclusion of the taxing entities was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 2 nays, with Council Member Norment and Council Member Moore casting the dissenting votes.