New trash hauler picked for San Mateo, Foster City

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 7, 2008 | by Jessica Bernstein-Wax

San Mateo and Foster City have selected Norcal Waste Systems Inc. for a 10-year, $44.4 million-per-year trash hauling deal starting in 2011.

The deal is more costly than the $43.5 million per year being paid to the current contractor, Allied Waste Industries Inc., but officials said Norcal's bid accounted for projected costs more thoroughly than Allied's bid did. No specific examples of that thoroughness were available.

The unanimous votes came Monday amid allegations from Allied that unfairness in the selection process led the South Bayside Waste Management Authority to recommend Norcal to its members.

What supposedly made the process unfair was not immediately clear.

San Mateo City Councilman Brandt Grotte said it wasn't necessary to delay the vote, in part because Allied raised its objections so late in the process.

"While I think there are some interesting things that have come up in the past two months, I've got to question why those things weren't brought up in the past two years," Grotte said. "That doesn't make sense to me."

Each authority member, including 10 cities, as well as the West Bay Sanitary District and San Mateo County, must decide independently whether to pick San Francisco-based Norcal.

If one member drops out, the authority, known as SBWMA, needs to renegotiate the deal.

"These decisions are ones that haven't taken fully into account the cost and lack of transparency" in the selection process, said Allied spokesman Pete Hillan. "As a result, they will live with what they voted for." The specific portions of the process that supposedly weren't transparent were unclear.

Norcal, which has an exclusive garbage collection contract with the city of San Francisco, submitted a slightly higher proposal than Allied. But the authority said it chose Norcal because the rationale it provided for its bid "was the most thorough, complete and reasonable" of the four submitted bids.

Norcal spokesman Adam Alberti said the company was proud to win the contract and looked forward to providing improved garbage and recycling service to Peninsula residents.

Also Monday, San Mateo's council unanimously voted to let SBWMA issue as much as $65.5 million in bonds for improvements to the Shoreway Disposal and Recycling Center in San Carlos.

Jessica Bernstein-Wax can be reached at jbernstein@dailynewsgroup.com.