CITY OF SEBASTOPOL CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM REPORT FOR MEETING OF: August 6, 2024
=========================================================================================== To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Assistant City Manager/City Clerk
Subject: Ad Hoc Committee for Purpose of Evaluation of Proposals and Conducting Interviews with Proposers for Services Related to the City of Sebastopol’s Solid Waste Collection Agreement
=========================================================================================== RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council Consider Creation of a City Council Ad Hoc Committee for the purpose of Evaluation of Proposals and Conducting Interviews with Proposers for Services Related to the City of Sebastopol’s Solid Waste Collection Agreement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As discussed at the February 2024 City Council meeting, despite extensive efforts over numerous months to protect residents and businesses from substantial rate increases, and as a result of unsuccessful negotiations between the City of Sebastopol and Recology, the Council approved pursuing a competitive process for future hauling services and authorized R3 to conduct the procurement process. The current contract for residential solid waste collection and street sweeping services expires on December 31, 2024, but Recology and the City have approved extensions through June 30, 2025 as well as Recology agreeing to “if requested by the City in order to compete the RFP process, Recology will consider, and negotiate in good faith, for an additional extension of 6 months”.
The City released the Request for Proposals with the following anticipated dates of activity:
Date Activity
July 31, 2024, 4 p.m. PT RFP Due Date
August 14, 2024 Initial Evaluations Completed
August 14-21, 2024 Interviews
August 28, 2024 Final Evaluations Completed
September 4, 2024 Contract Negotiations Completed
September 17, 2024 Anticipated Award Recommendations
July 1, 2025 Service Begins
Ater the continuation of this agenda item from the July 16th Council meeting, staff has met with the consultant (R3) and a new schedule is proposed as listed below:
• Now to 8/14 – R3 Technical Review of Proposals
• 8/14, 8/15 or 8/16 – Evaluation Panel Kick-off and Briefing Agenda Item Number: 9 Agenda Item Number: 9
City Council Meeting Packet for Meeting of: August 6, 2024
• *8/28, 8/29, or 8/30 – Evaluation Panel Initial Consensus Scoring / Interview Selections (*This step is dependent upon whether or not the evaluation panel wants to interview all proposers then the evaluation would be conducted after the interviews.).
• 9/4, 9/5, 9/6, 9/9, 9/10, 9/12 or 9/13 – Interviews with Selected Proposers • 9/16, 9/17 or 9/18 – Final Consensus Scoring / Identification of Top-Ranked Proposers • 10/1 or 10/15 – Presentation of Evaluation Results to City Council Seeking Direction to Negotiate Final Agreement
• 11/19 or 12/17 – Presentation of Final Agreement for Contract Award BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
It was anticipated that City staff would work with the consultant to conduct proposal evaluation (including interviews as appropriate) via a consensus-based scoring process using the evaluation criteria. After completion of the proposal evaluation and interview process, City staff and the consultant would return to a City Council meeting with identification of a top-ranked proposer (or proposers) deemed capable of delivering the best value for the City. Upon receiving direction from the Council to process to negotiate a final agreement with a proposer (top-ranked or otherwise), staff and the consultant would proceed to negotiate the final terms and conditions of agreement with the selected proposer and will bring a Final Agreement to the Council for potential contract award.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
The RFP contemplates that the Evaluation Panel will be made up of City staff or other parties the City deems necessary. This could include composition of an ad hoc committee of no more than two City Councilmembers. It is recommended that the Evaluation Panel consist of 3-5 members, each of whom would participate in the evaluation process. R3 staff will act as guides and technical support in the evaluation process, but they are typically not formal “ranking” members of the Evaluation Panel.
Importantly, Evaluation Panel members should have the time and capacity to participate in Evaluations during the month of August, including reading the proposals (up to four, each of which is anticipated to be a minimum of 100 pages), identifying questions, and participating in meetings and discussion sessions. Panelists should also be available to participate in interviews with selected proposers (if necessary). Finally, panelists should be available to participate in consensus ranking of proposals, which may also require meetings and discussion sessions.
Evaluation panelists also typically serve as the negotiation team, which in this case would mean continued engagement during negotiation of final agreement with the selected proposer in October and potentially into November.
In most cases, Evaluation Panelists are made up of City staff with technical / functional knowledge related to the City’s solid waste utility, finances, and other City policy objectives. This would tend to include City Managers, Assistant City Managers, Public Works / Engineering Directors, and Finance Directors. Occasionally, Councilmembers are also included as Evaluation Panelists, typically as evaluators only and not as members of the subsequent negotiation team. It is recommended the City Manager determine staff members for the evaluation panel and interviews.
The role of the Evaluation Panel is to evaluate proposals in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria, which constitutes a policy that has been set in advance by the City Council. Using the Evaluation Criteria, the Evaluation Panel will evaluate and rank proposals (including interviews if applicable) and identify a top-ranked proposer or proposers. The Evaluation Panel may then present rankings to the City Council, with a request for direction regarding whether to proceed contract negotiations and, if so, with which proposer(s).
Agenda Item Number: 9
Agenda Item Number: 9
City Council Meeting Packet for Meeting of: August 6, 2024
The Council may elect to direct staff and consultant to negotiate final agreement with the top-ranked proposer, or, alternatively, the Council may direct staff to seek best-and-final offers, negotiate with other proposer(s), or award agreement to another proposer. However, if a Council ad hoc committee participates in the evaluation process, it may constrain the full City Council’s ability to take an action beyond directing staff and consultant to negotiate a final agreement with the top-ranked proposer.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
This item has been noticed in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act and was available for public viewing and review at least 72 hours prior to schedule meeting date. The City has also used social media to promote and advertise the City Council Meeting Agenda Items.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Council approved up to $200,000 in consulting and staff fees all of which will be fully reimbursed to the City by the selected proposer.
OPTIONS:
The Council can:
1. Create an ad hoc committee of no more than two councilmembers, with City staff members to be determined by the City Manager; or
2. If approved creation of an ad hoc committee, appoint two City Councilmembers to the ad hoc committee to review the proposals and sit in on the interviews; with staff to negotiate final contract; or
3. Appoint one Councilmember as a liaison to the committee to review the proposals and sit in on the interviews; with staff to negotiate final contract; or
4. Do not create an ad hoc committee; staff would then evaluate the proposals and interview and return with recommendation for contract.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
APPROVALS:
Department Head Approval: Approval Date: 7-23-2024
CEQA Determination (Planning): Approval Date: 7-23-2024 This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines.
Administrative Services (Financial) Approval Date: 7-23-2024 Costs authorized in City Approved Budget: Yes ☐ No R N/A Account Code (f applicable) 100-11-02-4210
City Manager Approval: Approval Date: 7-29-2024
Agenda Item Number: 9
Agenda Item Number: 9
City Council Meeting Packet for Meeting of: August 6, 2024