TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Amber Shah, Parks & Public Works Director/City Engineer DATE: May 21, 2025
SUBJECT: ADOPT A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SAN MARINO 1) DETERMINING THAT THE
AWARD OF A SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING AGREEMENT
IS EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY ACT (CEQA), 2) AWARDING AN AGREEMENT TO
VALLEY VISTA SERVICES, INC. FOR THE COLLECTION,
TRANSPORTATION, PROCESSING AND DIVERSION OF
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, RECYCLABLE MATERIALS,
FOOD SCRAPS, YARD TRIMMINGS, CONSTRUCTION AND
DEMOLITION DEBRIS AND OTHER MATERIALS AND FOR
THE COLLECTION, TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FOR A TEN (10) YEAR PERIOD
BEGINNING MAY 31, 2025, AND TERMINATING JUNE 30,
2035; 3) AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE SOLID
WASTE AND RECYCLING AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE
CITY, AND 4) DIRECTING STAFF TO SET A PUBLIC
HEARING TO ADOPT THE PROPOSED RATES IN
ACCORDANCE WITH PROPOSITION 218
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
BACKGROUND
The City’s existing solid waste and recycling contract with Athens Services was entered into on October 1, 2003, and has been amended four times, most Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Mayor
Tony Chou, Vice Mayor
Hunter Chang, Council Member
John Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
recently in October 2023. The existing agreement expires December 31, 2025, unless earlier terminated by either party.
Pursuant to the terms in the Fourth Amendment to the agreement, the City entered into exclusive negotiations with Athens Services in late 2023 to attempt to reach mutually agreeable terms and rates for a new or amended agreement for recycling and solid waste services. After fourteen months of negotiations, the City and Athens Services were unable to reach an agreement. On February 28, 2025, the City Council authorized the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for solid waste and recycling services.
Also on February 28, 2025, at the request of Athens Services, the City Council appointed a two-person Ad Hoc Committee to meet with Athens Services to attempt to reach mutually agreeable terms and rates for a new or amended contract. The Ad Hoc Committee met with Athens Services on March 18, 2025, to discuss terms and rates. The parties were unable to reach an agreement.
On March 24, 2025, the City received a letter from Athens Services stating the company was exercising its right, pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the agreement, to terminate the existing contract as of May 30, 2025.
EcoNomics Inc., a solid waste consulting firm, assisted the City with the RFP process to procure a new 10-year contract for the Collection, Transportation, Processing and Diversion of Recyclable Materials, and Other Materials and For the Collection, Transportation and Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste to go into effect May 31, 2025. A key goal of the RFP process was to develop a contract that required the selected hauler to satisfy all the requirements for residential backyard service, diversion compliant programs, customer service, public education, reporting and all other contractual elements for the City to comply with Senate Bill (SB) 1383.
EcoNomics worked with City staff to define goals, specific programs and requirements for the new contract. The final combination of this work resulted in an RFP which contained a draft contract that would be signed by the selected proposer for approval by the City Council.
The RFP was issued on April 11, 2025, via the City’s OpenGov platform. The City requested that all interested proposers submit a letter of intent indicating interest in proposing by April 15, 2025. Six firms submitted letters of intent to the City, including: American Reclamation, Athens Services, Burrtec, Republic Services, Universal Waste Systems, and Valley Vista Services. The City convened meetings with each of the six firms that submitted letters of intent to review questions regarding the RFP between April 17 – 22, 2025. Proposers were invited to submit written questions concerning the RFP to the City prior to these meetings. The City responded in writing to all 160 questions submitted both in writing and verbally during the in-person proposer meetings and made certain revisions to (a) the draft contract contained in the RFP and (b) certain proposal forms, via issuance of seven addenda to the RFP.
On May 6, 2025, the following four firms submitted proposals in response to the City’s RFP: American Reclamation, Athens Services, Republic Services, and Valley Vista Services. The City’s Ad Hoc Committee, City staff, and consulting team held interviews with all four proposers on May 14, 2025. The RFP documents and four submitted proposals are available on the City’s website at www.SanMarinoCa.gov/Trash.
City staff and consultants evaluated the four proposals received in response to the RFP for solid waste and recycling services and created an Evaluation Summary Report. The report is included as Attachment 3 to this staff report, and summarizes the results of the proposal evaluations performed by EcoNomics. The proposal evaluations were conducted using the eighteen criteria described in Section 5.2 Proposal Evaluation Criteria of the RFP. Results of the evaluation are described in the Evaluation Summary Report.
DISCUSSION
The Evaluation Summary Report provides a review of each proposal with respect to each of the eighteen evaluation criteria, as listed below, contained in Section 5.2 of the RFP:
1. Organization & Experience of Project Team
2. Pending Litigation and Assessment of Liquidated Damages
3. Agreement Exceptions
4. Technical Capability: Collection Operations
5. Special Collection Services
6. Technical Capability: Processing & Marketing of Divertible Materials
7. Customer Service
8. Public Education and Outreach
9. Start-Up, Interim Period and Implementation Plan
10. Transition
11. Reporting
12. Environmental Responsibility
13. Financial Capability as Reviewed by a CPA of Submitted Financial Statements
14. Customized Local Approach
15. Diversion Strategy
16. Cost Evaluation
17. Procedural Compliance
18. AB 1669 Employment Offers to Incumbent’s Employees
An attached Evaluation Summary Report is included as Attachment 3 to this staff report for further evaluation details for each of the above criteria.
In evaluating the criteria, significant consideration was given to the following elements of the proposal as identified below in Table 1: Summary of Proposal Terms.
Table 1: Summary of Proposal Terms
*HDOWPF stands for High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility as certified by CalRecycle. A 2-stream collection process includes one cart for trash/recyclables and a second cart for yard trimmings/food scraps (organics). A 3-stream collection process includes one cart for trash, a second cart for recyclables and a third cart for yard trimmings/food scraps (organics).
A review of each key element of the proposal evaluation process is included below.
Contract Terms and Conditions
The City included a draft agreement in the RFP package for review by proposers. The contract terms and conditions included, but were not limited to, the following key provisions:
• Performance standards that align state-mandated City diversion requirements with hauler operations
• Flow control of waste and recycling materials that allows the City to direct trash, recycling, and organic waste to the most cost-effective permitted processing facilities
• Indemnification to protect the City from lawsuits resultant from activities outside of the City’s control
• Prohibitions against the Contractor assessing contamination fees directly against customers and instead referring repeat recycling and organics recycling contaminators to the City for education and potential investigation
• City retains sole discretion in enforcement of its municipal code against customers that do not have State-mandated services
• Rates are adjusted using a producer price index (PPI) inflation formula, which historically has resulted in lower inflation-based rate adjustments when compared to CPI or other indices
• Contractual defaults must be cured within 2 days
• The City may assess pre-defined liquidated damages for repeat service or reporting issues
• Prohibition against extraordinary rate increases – the only way to increase rates over the 10-year term is via a pre-defined inflation adjustment, a City-directed change in scope of work, or if a third-party processing facility increases its gate fee
These contract provisions are critical to ensure the City is compliant with State diversion mandates, to protect ratepayers from unreasonable rate adjustments, and to ensure the Contractor has strong incentives, and disincentives, to perform.
In RFP Proposal Form 20, proposers were asked to review the contract and note any exceptions to the contract that they identified. American Reclamation and Valley Vista Services did not take any exceptions to the City’s contract terms and conditions. Athens Services and Republic Services took several significant exceptions to the City’s contract terms and conditions.
City’s Annual Price Adjustment Method
The contract uses the Producer Price index (PPI) to calculate annual inflationbased rate adjustment. American Reclamation and Valley Vista Services agreed to the City’s PPI rate adjustment terms. Athens Services and Republic Services took exception to the City’s PPI rate adjustment terms.
Backyard Service
Backyard/Sideyard Service is a unique service provided in San Marino that is highly valued by all residential customers. With San Marino’s ‘backyard’ service method trash carts are not left out on City streets and are serviced directly to/from each backyard location.
American Reclamation, Athens Services and Vally Vista Services proposals included collection programs that continued San Marino’s backyard service method. Republic Services proposal provided a curbside collection program, not a backyard service collection program.
Number of Waste Streams
All proposers provided a three-stream recycling, solid waste, and organics collection method for compliance with SB 1383.
In addition to a three stream recycling, solid waste, and organic collection, Valley Vista also proposed the use of a two-stream method using its CalRecycle designated High Diversion Organics Waste Processing Facility (HDOWPF) to receive co-collected recyclables/solid waste and co-collected yard trimmings/food scraps (organics). Complete rates for both the threestream and two-stream method were provided by Valley Vista Services.
Valley Vista Services’ two-stream service offers an acceptable compliance pathway per SB 1383 and helps ensure that the City will not incur fines for SB 1383 non-attainment. Valley Vista Services owns and operates the only CalRecycle-certified High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility in Southern California (1 of only 4 in the State).
Valley Vista Services’ HDOWPF certification enables residents to continue using a two-stream (solid waste and recyclables in one container, and all other organic materials in another) method for sorting and collection – the same collection method that is currently used and with which the majority of residents are accustomed. Residents with estate (bin) service will be required to implement a second container as part of the two-stream collection system.
With all co-collected recyclables and MSW processed at Valley Vista Services’ HDOWPF, the City’s two-stream collection system will comply with SB 1383.
American Reclamation, Athens Services, and Republic Services did not propose the use of a CalRecycle designated High Diversion Organics Waste Processing Facility (HDOWPF) and instead proposed a three-stream collection system.
When drafting the contract and scope of work, the City did not anticipate a proposer would submit a proposal for an SB 1383-compliant two-stream system and the scope of work does not include specific language for a twostream collection program. If the contract is awarded to Valley Vista Services, the scope of work that is included as Attachment B to the Agreement will need to be expanded to reflect the provision of a two-stream program. Valley Vista Services has provided a rate for residential, estate, and commercial twostream collection programs. The City intends to activate the ‘City’s Right to Change Scope of Work’ provision included as Section 5.12 of the Agreement to incorporate the two-stream collection program description in Attachment B, scope of work, and other Agreement attachments. Per Section 5.12, the City-directed change in scope of work would not require an amendment to the agreement and would not require City Council action since a rate for both a two- and three-stream collection system were submitted by Valley Vista Services and, if Valley Vista Services is awarded the contract, complete rates for either method are included in the proposal.
Proposed Residential Rate
All proposers submitted residential rates as listed above in “Table 1: Summary of Proposal Terms”. Valley Vista Services submitted the lowest residential rate of $57.61 using a two-stream, SB 1383-compliant collection method.
Reimbursement for City’s Consultant Costs Related to the RFP All proposers agreed to the terms of the RFP and the Agreement that the selected proposer shall make a payment to the City to reimburse the costs for developing the RFP, conducting the RFP process and evaluating the RFP documents.
Value-Added Special Services included in the RFP
All proposers agreed to the terms of the RFP and the Agreement that the selected proposer shall provide the following value-added special services:
• Two (2) annual collections of up to (10) bulky items per collection at each Customer’s Premises at no additional charge on a “by appointment” basis. Bulky items at residences shall be collected at backyard and sideyard locations where trash containers are located.
• Holiday greenery collection and recycling for three (3) full weeks from December 26 through January 15 of each year.
• Conduct two (2) community shredding events each calendar year.
Residents and Commercial Establishments in the City may bring a maximum of ten (10) “banker’s boxes”.
• Provide two (2) free Compost distribution events each year. The compost will be bagged containing one (1) cubic yard of compost and each Resident may receive up to five (5) bags of compost per event.
Conclusion
In its Evaluation Summary Report, EcoNomics recommends that the City award the Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement to Valley Vista Services. This conclusion is based upon the results of the application of the eighteen RFP evaluation criteria provided above.
After the proposals were evaluated, independent financial reviews of the companies were completed, and references were checked, all four were interviewed by the City Council’s Ad Hoc Waste Hauler Committee comprised of Mayor Shepherd Romey, Vice Mayor Chou, City Manager Eskandar, Public Works Director Shah, and City’s consultant team. After extensive consideration, the Ad Hoc Committee recommends that Valley Vista Services (VVS) be awarded the City’s waste hauling contract.
In summary, the items below highlight the advantages of the proposal submitted by Valley Vista Services:
• Valley Vista Services’ two-stream method is consistent with the City’s current two-stream collection system and offers SB 1383 compliance with minimal changes in residents’ behavior.
• Valley Vista Services owns and operates the only facility in Southern California that is currently certified by CalRecycle as a High Diversion Organics Waste Processing Facility (HDOWPF) to receive co-collected recyclables and MSW while attaining SB 1383 compliance. • Valley Vista Services will provide residential Backyard/Sideyard service in the same manner as City residents are accustomed to receiving. • Valley Vista Services agreed to all the City’s Contract Terms and Conditions with no exceptions.
• Valley Vista Services provided all Financial Statements for evaluation as required by the RFP and was found to be financially capable of providing the services as submitted in their proposal.
• Valley Vista Services is the most qualified proposer as it demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the project and provided the lowest residential rate received in the RFP process.
• In addition to the above criteria, prioritizing San Marino customer service is instrumental to the new contract transition process. If awarded the contract, Valley Vista Services will deploy a dedicated ‘San Marino team’ to serve the community immediately after award. During the transition period, Valley Vista Services will carry out a robust community engagement process across multiple channels of communication and will set up, and staff, a daily in-person customer service desk in San Marino City Hall and/or Community Center where residents and businesses can speak directly with Valley Vista Services staff during the initial weeks of the contract roll-out. Valley Vista Services’ San Marino team will speak multiple languages, and community members will be able to have their questions answered and share their specific needs, get assistance with setting up accounts, learn more about Valley Vista Services, and to meet Valley Vista’s dedicated San Marino team.
CEQA REVIEW
The proposed action to award a solid waste services agreement (the "proposed activity") was reviewed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq., "CEQA") and the CEQA Guidelines (14 California Code of Regulations §§15000, et seq.).
1. The proposed activity is not a project subject to CEQA because it doesn’t meet CEQA’s definition of a project (see CEQA Guidelines Section 15378), most notably because the proposed activity does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. The services provided pursuant to the Project would be identical to, or substantially the same as, the services previously provided by Athens throughout the City. The proposed activity will result in a change in solid waste and recycling service providers that will continue to collect and process waste and recyclables generated and disposed of in the same locations within the City and in the same manner as the previous service provider (Athens Services).
2. Assuming arguendo that the proposed activity is a “project” subject to CEQA, as discussed and demonstrated below it falls under several CEQA exemptions. The proposed activity is exempt pursuant to the categorical exemptions in CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 ("Existing Facilities") and CEQA Guidelines Section 15302 (“Replacement or Reconstruction”) and also pursuant to the general, common-sense exemption in CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3):
• Class 1 Categorical Exemption for Minor Alteration to Existing Facilities – CEQA considers treatment of solid waste to be a utility (CEQA Guidelines Appendix G Checklist under Section XIX Utilities and Service Systems where solid waste is included under subsections (d) and (e)) and the example in Section 15301(b) explains that the existing facilities exemption covers minor alterations to existing public utility services. CEQA Guidelines § 15301 exempts "the operation, repair,
maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structure, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination." As noted above, the proposed activity will simply change the City’s solid waste and recycling service provider and the new provider will continue to collect and process waste and recyclables generated and disposed of in the same locations within the City and in the same manner as the previous provider. Further, Valley Vista Services (“VVS”) has indicated that all proposed collection and disposal facilities have adequate processing and/or disposal capacity for the waste and recyclables generated by the City of San Marino. No new facilities (including landfills, organics processing facilities, material recovery facilities (MRFs)), will be constructed or expanded by VVS as a result of entering into a solid waste services agreement with the City of San Marino. Therefore, the decision to approve the proposed activity involves the
operation and use of existing facilities and equipment; it does not involve an expansion of use. Consequently, the Project is exempt from additional environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines § 15301.
• Class 2 Categorical Exemption for Replacement of Existing Facilities – CEQA Guidelines Section 15302, including the example in subsection (c) for existing utility facilities, exempts “replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced.” As noted above in the discussion regarding why the proposed activity falls under the Class 1 categorical exemption, the proposed activity does not entail any new or expanded
structures but rather will simply change the City’s solid waste and recycling service provider who will continue to pick up waste from the same locations within the City and in generally the same manner as the previous provider. Therefore, the decision to approve the proposed activity involves the
replacement of the City’s solid waste and recycling service provider and the activities the new provider will undertake will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the activities of the previous provider. As such, the Project is exempt from additional environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines § 15302.
• Common sense exemption – CEQA Guidelines Section
15061(b)(3) sets forth a ‘common sense exemption’ for
projects that do not have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. VVS’s corporate yard and
processing/transfer stations are approximately 10 miles further away from the City when compared to the relative location of the previous provider’s transfer/processing facility, which will result in a net increase in vehicle miles traveled by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Class 8 heavy duty refuse collection
vehicles. However, this net increase in vehicle miles traveled, and resultant emissions, will result in the same or slightly less vehicle emissions when compared to the emissions from the previous provider by the following factors:
• The previous service provider made use of light duty gaspowered trucks to collect residential containers and to bring them to the ‘mother trucks’ for consolidation. VVS is
proposing to use either electric light-duty 'burro' trucks, electric golf carts, or workers on foot to bring residential carts to the curbside for collection. VVS is also proposing the use of an electric flat bed for bulky items and bin delivery.
The previous service provider used a vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine to provide these services. The use of EVs to gather the residential containers, as well as to collect bulky items/deliver bins, will result in fewer
emissions.
• Lastly, per the requirements of Senate Bill 1383, VVS has proposed the use of a facility to compost food scraps and yard trimmings collected from residential and commercial locations within the City. Currently, most food scraps
generated by residential and commercial customers within the City are being landfilled. When food scraps are disposed of in a landfill where no oxygen exists, they breakdown anaerobically and generate methane gas, which has 84
times the atmospheric heat trapping capacity of carbon
dioxide and is considered a ‘short-lived climate pollutant’ by CalRecycle and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) targeted for reduction by statute1. Composting residential and commercial food scraps that are currently being disposed of in landfills will result in reductions in shortlived climate pollutants such as methane2. • In summary, the collection and disposal systems proposed by Valley Vista Services include the collection of residential waste containers either by zero emission vehicle or by ‘foot’ that will eliminate emissions from gas vehicles used by the previous provider. Waste and recyclables will then be taken to a transfer station in the City of Industry which is slightly farther away from the City than the current facility utilized by the previous provider. However, based on the emission reductions resultant from the use of electric vehicles and the composting of hundreds of tons of food scraps annually that are currently being landfilled, any net increase in additional emissions from Valley Vista’s facility being farther away from the City will be negligible.
3. None of the exceptions to the Categorical Exemptions in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply. One of the most commonly cited exceptions is the significant effect exception located in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2(c), however, that exception does not apply here as the proposed activity does not involve any unusual circumstances. Indeed, it is commonplace for cities and other municipalities to use an RFP process to identify/select and contract with new solid waste and recycling service providers.3 Because it is common for cities to switch solid waste and recycling service providers and because this exception requires both a potentially significant adverse environmental impact due to unusual circumstances, this exception does not apply here as there are no unusual circumstances.
1 https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/
1 2 https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/
3 See, e.g., https://www.cityofsebastopol.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/RFP-for-Sebastopol-Solid-WasteCollection-Agreement_2024-05-28_rev-Word-version.pdf; https://www.chinohills.org/DocumentCenter/View/23509/Request-for-Proposals-for-Integrated-Solid-WasteMgmt-Svs; https://monocounty.ca.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/public_works_- _solid_waste/page/31433/request_for_proposals.pdf; https://www.sjgov.org/docs/default-source/public-worksdocuments/rfps-and-rfqs/sjcdpw-rfp-24-08-documents/sjcdpw-rfp-24-08.pdf?sfvrsn=6acfa0c8_3; https://hiddenhillscity.org/wp-content/uploads/Hidden-Hills-RFP-2024.pdf
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
If awarded, Valley Vista will remit monthly Regulatory Compliance Cost payments of $35,000 to offset the City’s regulatory compliance, contract management, and SB 1383 implementation costs. Additionally, if awarded, Valley Vista Services will reimburse the City of San Marino $225,000 for costs associated with developing the RFP, administering the RFP process, and evaluating proposals.
The Finance Director has reviewed this staff report for compliance with San Marino City Code §02.06.05.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a Resolution 1) determining that the award of a Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), 2) awarding an Agreement to Valley Vista Services, Inc. for the Collection, Transportation, Processing and Diversion of Municipal Solid Waste, Recyclable Materials, Food Scraps, Yard Trimmings, Construction and Demolition Debris and Other Materials and for the Collection, Transportation, Processing and Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste for a ten (10) year period beginning May 31, 2025, and terminating June 30, 2035, 3) authorizing the Mayor to sign the Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement on behalf of the City, and 4) directing staff to set a Public Hearing to adopt proposed rates in accordance with Proposition 218. If the Council concurs with staff’s recommendation, an appropriate motion would be:
“I move to adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of San Marino 1) determining the award of a Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15301, 15302, and 15061(b)(3) of Title 14, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations, 2) awarding the Agreement to Valley Vista Services, Inc. for the Collection, Transportation, Processing and Diversion of Municipal Solid Waste, Recyclable Materials, Food Scraps, Yard Trimmings, Construction and Demolition Debris and Other Materials and for the Collection, Transportation, Processing and Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste for a ten (10) year period beginning May 31, 2025, and terminating June 30, 2035, 3) authorizing the Mayor to sign the Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement on behalf of the City, and 4) directing staff to set a Public Hearing to adopt proposed rates in accordance with Proposition 218.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft Resolution
2. Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement between the City and Valley Vista Services, Inc.
3. Summary Evaluation Report of Proposals Received for Solid Waste and Recycling Services prepared by EcoNomics, Inc.