HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 12/28/2021 - Memorandum From Caroline Mitchell And Deangelo Bowden Re: Council Priority: Districted System For Trash, Recycling And Composting Project PlanEnvironmental Services
222 Laporte Ave
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221-6600
fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
Date: December 21, 2021
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Thru: Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager
Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager
Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Lindsay Ex, Environmental Services Director
From: Caroline Mitchell, Waste Reduction and Recycling Program Manager
DeAngelo Bowden, Project Management Coordinator
Re: Council Priority: Districted system for trash, recycling and composting
project plan
Bottom line: The purpose of this memo is informational to provide Council with the outline of
the proposed project plan for Council Priority #12: Explore districted system for trash, recycling,
and compost (Districting).
Council Priority Outcome Statement: For this priority, the outcome Council is seeking to
achieve is as follows, “Utilizing information from previous studies about districting trash and
recycling services in Fort Collins and best practices from peer communities, develop a strategy
and timeline to explore districting in Fort Collins.”
What is Districting: Districting is form of contracting, a system in which a city contracts with a
private hauler(s) to provide trash and recycling service to single family homes (note: a state law
prohibits the City from contracting for commercial and multi-family service). The districting
element means the community could be divided into districts, which could potentially be
serviced by different haulers. The selection of private hauler(s) would be determined by a
Request for Proposals (RFP).
Council’s Role: This Council priority commits to exploring Districting. City Council would have
the opportunity to determine whether to issue an RFP and to help identify key considerations
and elements to include in the RFP. Council also would have decision making authority of
whether to move forward with awarding a contract(s) and any related code updates after the
proposals have been evaluated in accordance with the criteria established in the RFP.
Considerations: Through conversations with stakeholders and the community and through
peer community / best practice research, staff will seek feedback regarding elements including
but not limited to the following:
Whether to include yard waste composting in curbside service now, and food scrap
collection when infrastructure becomes available
o This could be optional or required for haulers to include in their proposals, and
could lead to programs in the community that could be opt-in, opt-out, or part of
basic service for all
Whether to include HOAs in a districted system
Whether the hauler or the City should provide billing and customer service services
2
Whether to create districts within the City or consider one hauler for the entire
community
As peer community research and engagement is conducted, additional considerations will be
included in the process and for Council’s discussion.
Community and Stakeholder Engagement: Staff will engage with the community in Q1 to
understand their goals from a districted trash and recycling system and will share that
perspective with Council in an April Work Session. Staff has developed an initial list of
stakeholders for this engagement and will continue to refine this list as peer city research and
stakeholder mapping is conducted in January. While staff will share the full list of stakeholders
at the Work Session, the following entities have already been identified:
City of Fort Collins Boards and
Commissions, including but not limited to,
Natural Resources Advisory Board and
Economic Advisory Board
Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Development Authority
Environmental and Sustainability-
oriented groups
Historically Underrepresented
Community Members, including youth,
members of the disabled community,
Spanish-speakers and more
Homeowner’s Associations
Trash and Recycling Haulers
Timeline and Council Touchpoints: Staff committed to developing a project scope and plan
by 12/31/21. This memo shares a high-level version of that plan. This memo proposes an
accelerated timeline compared to the one reflected in the Council Priorities dashboard, which
would enable a Council decision on this topic in 2022.
Staff proposes the following high-level project plan for districting:
Project Element Anticipated Council Touchpoints
Q1
2022
Peer community and best practices
research
Community and stakeholder
engagement to identify goals from
districted trash and recycling system
Refined project budget
Memo to Council summarizing best
practices and peer community research
Q2
2022
Request For Proposals (RFP)
development
Work Session to review community
feedback, clarify goals of project, and
seek Council direction on bringing
forward a Resolution to develop the RFP
Potential Regular Meeting: Resolution
directing staff to develop RFP
Q3
2022
Issue RFP, haulers respond to RFP
Q4
2022
Assess proposals submitted in
response to the RFP
Decision on Districting
Potential code updates
Council meeting(s) to make decision on
Districting and adopt any related code
updates