04-03-1978 - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECESS vened with the same At 3:10 P.M. the Vice Mayor recessed the meeting; at 3:18 P.M. the meeting was recon- Council members present. TRASH NEGOTIATIONS Following an oral report "AVERAGE RATE PROPOSAL" by City Manager Bruce CONTRACT EXTENSION - APPROVED Spragg, and in accordance with the recommendation made by Mr. Spragg in his report dated March 29, 1978, the con- cept of the "average rate proposal" was approved for use as a basis for rates to be established in the extension of the City's refuse collection contract, and Staff was authorized to pre- pare a written contract for Council review within forty-five days, on the motion of Councilman Bricken, seconded by Council- man Brandt, carried $:0 unanimously. City Manager Spragg reported that he had received substantial concurrence with his report to Council from Verlyn Jensen, a member of the negotiating team for the Contractor, Great Wes- tern Reclamation; the average rate proposal resulted from nine meetings held to devise a fair, equitable and trackable method of extending the refuse collection contract that would protect the taxpayers in Santa Ana from excessive charges, and at the same time provide a fair reimbursement to the Contractor, with some guarantee of a continuum of the services the City has had. Enclosure #1 of the report itemizes the rates the Contractor feels he would need to extend the contract on a fixed rate basis showing a 20% rate increase in residential rates and a 58% increase in commercial rates the first year. Enclosure #2 states that the Contractor shall be paid at a rate calculated July 1 of each year that is equal to the average of the rates in the six cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach and Orange. At this time, the average rate proposal would result in a 5.3% increase in residential rates and a 22.2% increase in the commercial rates the first year. Mr. Spragg stated that the Director of Public Works John Stevens would be working with Mr. Blackman of Great Western, or his representatives, to determine the minimum levels of service to assure quality service for City residents as well as an equitable cost. Councilman Bricken asked the City Attorney what recourse the City would have in the event the Contractor acquired sufficient inter- est in the companies serving the six other Orange County cities to be in a position to drive up the rates. Mr. Gow responded that the terms of the contract would prevail. Mr. Spragg added that the Contractor would be in violation of anti-trust laws and subject to prosecution if collusion were suspected. Councilman Bricken suggested that language be in- cluded in the agreement addressing that situation, even though other legal remedies are available to the City. He stated that such language in the contract would tend to avoid some criticism and may expedite the solution of any future problems in that regard. Verlyn Jensen, Attorney for the Contractor, stated that Great Western Reclamation would agree to the continuance of the unilateral cancellation clause, and they would also be unopposed to an anti-monopoly, anti-collusion clause. Jan Boer, 912 North Lowell, stated that she would like to see the contract go out to bid. A-78-29 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 135 APRIL 3, 1978