2022 08 25 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
August 25, 2022
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
August 25, 2022, at 5:34 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market
Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance:
Laura Alvarado Council Member
Chris Presley Council Member
Charles Johnson Mayor Pro Tem
Heather Betancourth Council Member
Jacob Powell Council Member
Mike Lester Council Member
Brandon Capetillo Mayor
Rick Davis City Manager
Scott Lemond City Attorney
John Stringer Sergeant at Arms
Raquel Martinez Deputy City Clerk
Mayor Capetillo convened the August 25, 2022, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:34 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Presley who later arrived at 5:37 P.M.
1. DISCUSSIONS
a. Receive a presentation and discuss the Annual Residential Solid Waste Collection,
Disposal, and Recycling Services Contract for the City of Baytown with Best Trash, LLC.
As Council would be considering the approval of a solid waste contract in their City Council
Regular Meeting later that evening, Public Works and Engineering Frank Simoneaux explained to
Council the process staff went through with their current service and the proposed service under
the new contract. The City's current services were listed as the following:
• Solid Waste—2x per week for unlimited bags; Monday—Thursday or Tuesday—Friday
• Recycling— lx per week for 95-gallon carts
• Bulk—2x per week
• Brush— lx per month(Handled by the City)
Baytown's current services were provided by Waste Management whose contract would expire on
December 1, 2022. The current rate per household per month was $27.02. As the contract was
expiring, the City engaged Solid Waste Specialists to help the City draw a proposed contract and
assist with the procurement process.A kick-off meeting was held in May and in June a presentation
was given to Council. Mr. Simoneaux did comment the unlimited bulk collections had not been
sustainable. The City would not receive any bids when that option was left in the proposal.
City Council Regular Work Session Minutes
August 25,2022
Page 2 of 4
The proposal the City put out for bid had the two following options:
Option 1
• Garbage collection 2x weekly with a 10-bag limit(30-gallon)
- Collections: Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday only
Option 2
• Garbage collections 2x weekly with 95-gallon carts
- Collections: Monday-Friday
- Pink Tags would allow for the collection of bags outside carts
With either option, recycling would remain unchanged for once a week with 95-gallon carts and
bulk would be collected once a week with a 4-yard limit. Unusual accumulations would also have
a fee on either option. Rate adjustments were determined using the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Garbage and Trash Index, and those future adjustments would be capped at 4%—as in the current
agreement. The Pre-Bid Meeting was held on June 30th where eleven firms attended. When the
City opened the bid, two firms responded: Waste Management and Best Trash. Mr. Simoneaux
detailed their scoring process and the proposals which had been evaluated by a committee.
BID PROPOSALS OPTION 1 OPTION 2
WASTE MANAGEMENT No Bid $668,284
Hourly Rate $31.16
BEST TRASH $26,320 $648,065
Hourly Rate $23.00 $28.40
Based on the scoring process, Best Trash was the best on price. However, Waste Management
offered an alternate option to reduce bulk collections to every other week while also reducing their
price to $29.57 per month. Likewise, Best Trash offered an alternate option to collect recycling in
65-gallon carts along with other options of different combinations of sizes and prices. The City
had conducted interviews with both firms. Waste Management had no bid for Option 1 and did not
agree to the 4% cap. In contrast,Best Trash was a family-owned business that historically focused
on Municipal Utility Districts(MUDs). From the interview,Mr. Simoneaux relayed many positive
things about the company. Thus, staffs recommendation was to award the contract to Best Trash.
The recommendation was for their alternate third option with the bag collection and recycling in a
65-gallon container. Although, Best Trash stated if there were boxes placed outside the recycling
container,they would collect those as well. The rate would drop to $21.45 from the current$27.02.
Council Member Alvarado liked the price, but questioned if the alternate third option included
unlimited bags. Mr. Simoneaux replied no options had unlimited bags and Staff did place a ten-
bag limit of 30-gallons. There was also an additional price for large bulk collection, but citizens
would still have the Green Center as an option. Council Member Alvarado then shared her concern
over Best Trash primarily servicing MUDs which were different from her district. She wondered
if they could handle the workload in her district, particularly with alleyways and multi-families.
Matthew May with Best Trash assured they had serviced duplexes and were experienced with
picking up varying types of trash based on the economics of neighborhoods. As the contract had
limitations on the trash put out,residents could pay extra,but the contract should cover everything.
City Council Regular Work Session Minutes
August 25,2022
Page 3 of 4
Mayor Capetillo noted certain areas of the City had alleyways, and questioned if their vehicles
could collect trash in carts. Mr. Simoneaux responded the cart-only option was a problem with
alleyways with automated collection, so the option recommended was rear-load hand collection.
Therefore, yes, alleys could be serviced. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson questioned whether Best Trash
had taken the time to ride through Baytown to see what they had described. Mr. May replied they
had not. Mayor Capetillo then inquired over their customer base. Mr. May replied they serviced
about 300,000 residents through 220 different contracts with MUDs and Homeowner Associations
(HOAs). Baytown would be their first city contract, but their largest individual contract was with
Sienna Plantation which had six MUDs in one community with 11,000 homes. Mayor Capetillo
stated Baytown had roughly 20,000 homes, yet he did note Best Trash had good customer service.
On Waste Management and the 4% cap, Mayor Capetillo wondered if they had a proposal for any
type of cap. Sharma Lopez with Waste Management noted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) [was
at an all-time high. Thus,in the timeframe of the contract,Waste Management proposed a cap with
a max of 25%. For instance, one year could be at 7% while the next could be at 2%, but it would
never go over the whole contract term of 25%. Waste Management could not say 4% every year
and not have those discussions with the City. On that five-year contract, if the City were
dissatisfied with their service, Council Member Presley questioned what were their outs if they
had any. Mr. Simoneaux replied there was a list of liquidated damages in the contract for miss
collections and he proceeded to read that out for Council. In addition, the City had a performance
bond in the event the company failed to perform. Council Member Presley presumed there were
monetary penalties but not any termination or cancellation provision. City Attorney Scott Lemond
addressed there would be a standard termination for cause provision, a standard bankruptcy or
insolvency language provision, and a termination for non-appropriation of funds provision.
Council Member Lester recalled Council's discussion of trying to move away from bag
collections.He understood it was cheaper as well as the cart collections issues with their alleyways;
however, he had hoped the City would move towards carts. Moreover, Mayor Pro Tem Johnson
voiced his concerns regarding Best Trash doing cities with MUDs and whether Baytown's trash
could be picked up. Best Trash's customer service was great, but he still held his concerns and
commended the question on there being an out. Mayor Pro Tern Johnson had also hoped to move
towards carts as Baytown was one of the few cities left allowing bag collections. He asked if prices
normally went up when eliminating bags. Mr. May replied Best Trash did provide alternate options
to bags that included carts. Baytown's alleyways could have carts as their company would not use
an automated truck with an arm. Also, carts were more expensive because of the expense upfront
and of the time it took to handle them. Mr. May further relayed their company's calculations on
how many homes could be serviced a day with the options mentioned. He lastly touched on their
customer service assuring Council they had never had an issue with their services nor any contract.
Council Member Alvarado responded to the comments made about moving towards carts by
recalling the session Council held about three years ago in the Community Center. The City's
provider wanted to move to carts, but resident had chosen to pay more in order to have unlimited
bags. She had asked City Manager Rick Davis why they did not hold a community conversation
and ultimately it was because the rates would be lower. Council Member Alvarado proceeded to
encourage Best Trash to make their routes around Baytown soon than later so they get to know
their neighborhoods. She wondered if the City would allow for a grace period so Best Trash could
City Council Regular Work Session Minutes
August 25,2022
Page 4 of 4
get used to the routes before any fines started to rake up. Council Member Lester commented over
that meeting and questioned what would happen for residents that already had carts and did not
put out bags. Mr. May replied residents would only be able to use a container up to 50-gallons.
b. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for August 25, 2022,which is attached below.
City Manager Rick Davis requested the land use items on the City Council Regular Meeting
Agenda for that evening to be addressed. Planning and Development Director Martin Scribner
relayed Council would have Items 8,9, 10,and parts of 12. On Items 8.a. and 8.b.,Council Member
Presley wondered if there was a proposed use. Mr. Scribner replied the back half of the lots were
already being used for parking which was not allowed in Mixed Residential at Low to Medium
Densities (SF2) which it was currently zoned. The rezone was housekeeping of sorts that seemed
appropriate to staff as there were no issues with it in the public hearing. Mayor Capetillo requested
to be reminded of items. Mr. Scribner answered Items 8 and 9 were other rezones, Item 10 was an
annexation for Bay Creek, and Item 12.b. was accepting an application for a new annexation.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the August 25,
2022, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:19 P.M.
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