Omaha City Council to consider two new bids for trash services

OMAHA, Neb. (FOX 42 KPTM) — The Omaha City Council has doubled their options for trash service contracts for 2021-2030. Contractors West Central Sanitation( WCS) and Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) have submitted additional bids for the city trash service contract that include additional plans for yard waste compost services.

In a public hearing Tuesday Jim Tyler, Assistant Director of Environmental Services at the Omaha Public Works Department, said according to a model created by the city’s consulting firm the estimated contract for a city the size of Omaha would cost approximately $24,700,000, for a two cart system with 51 trucks to do that work.

Tyler said the Public Works Department is in agreement with the recommendation from Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert to select the FCC two cart system.

“The numbers, no matter what you believe about the use of technology and automation, show us that the bid received from WCS did not provide for adequate resources to perform the contract,” Tyler said.

Both FCC and WCS are bidding two and three cart proposals. Under a two cart system, people will be issued two bins, one for mixed trash and yard waste and one for recyclables. FCC’s bid for the two cart contract is $22,691,046. WCS's bid for a two cart system is $13,455,00.00 for trash pick up, and $15,590,945 to include additional city-wide Spring and Fall yard cleanups.

Mary Roth Stigman spoke at the public meeting on behalf of Omaha Together One Community and said sending mixed trash and yard waste to the landfill is unacceptable.

“The primary reason for separate collection is to reduce methane produced by decomposing yard waste from the landfill,” Roth Stigman said. “Methane in the first 20 years is 72 times better than carbon dioxide at infrared heat retention. Heat retention in the atmosphere and in the oceans that is significantly contributing to the climate change that we are all now experiencing.”

The second wave of proposals would each create a three cart system, giving trash, recyclables and yard waste each an individual bin. FCC bid the three cart system at $25,474,500 for trash pick up with year round yard waste collection, and$28,647,319 to include additional city-wide Spring and Fall yard cleanups. WCS bid the three cart system at $19,06,000 for trash service pick up with yard waste collection 32 weeks out of the year. The total three cart system bid from WCS would be $22,157,181 to include additional city-wide Spring and Fall yard cleanups.

Stothert says implemented a three cart system could require a tax increase, and she would not support that decision from the city council.

Donny Stanton was also at the public hearing Tuesday and said he is concerned about WCS’s ability to handle trash services in a city the size of Omaha, citing the company’s largest client is currently Mankato, Minnesota, a city with a population of less than 50,000.

“The number of homes in Mankato is roughly the size of one council district in Omaha, or if my analysis is correct, roughly 20,000 homes,” Stanton said. “West Central, in my opinion, would have to double in size to support this contract. The residents of Omaha are not willing, or shouldn’t be willing to take that risk when it comes to the service of their trash.”

If awarded the bid FCC plans to recycle people’s current plastic trash bins at no additional cost to the city.

Don Williamson from West Central Sanitation says the company would like to recycle the old trash bins, but estimates it could cost the city up to $500,000 to completely recycle all the bins.

The city council will vote on the trash service contract during the August 27 meeting.