More absurd action by the Atherton City Council (I thought Atherton was a TOWN).
Recology does a great job. We have had only good experiences with their staff.
Atherton is picking fights again - Menlo Fire, Recology. What's next, Atherton Police Department ??? Leave them alone. Well... go after Menlo Fire. They cost Atherton too much.

This is simply another example of he Town Council, which is NOT representative of the residents of Atherton's views, to detach itself from all of its "entangling alliances".

The Town Council wants to become the Grand Duchy of Atherton with no responsibility for anything beyond its boundaries. Of course the Town still wants to benefit from all of the services provided at the County, State and Federal levels.

The Town is a member of the South Bayside Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (SBWMA JPA) and a member of the CIty Council serves on the Governing Board of the SBWMA. The refuse collection and processing rates for Atherton residents are set by the Town based on the cost to collect, process, recycle, and dispose of waste, recyclables, and compostables. That cost is a combined cost between the SBWMA that handles the processing as well as educational programming and Recology that handles collection. The City Council has been clear that the issue is not a service issue with Recology. However, the costs for collection represent only 1/2 of the costs for refuse services. The costs for processing, recycling, and educational services and administrative overhead represent the other 1/2+ costs.

Over the years, the land use make up of the member agencies has intensified more toward the commercial and multi-family residential waste streams. The services and programs and related costs for the SBWMA (not Recology) have shifted more to support those agencies with more commercial and multi-family - both in the costs to service the waste streams of those agencies as well as the costs to provide educational support and overhead to those communities. Atherton's is mostly residential. Because the costs of the SBMWA are not separated based on the percentage of residential and commercial for each agency, Atherton residents pay to subsidize the services and programs provided to the other member agencies. Further, there is new legislation that will force the compliance costs to increase significantly. The SBWMA has not yet calculated the exact impact on each member agency, but costs are expected to increase significantly.

Atherton conducted a bid process to see if there were other refuse service delivery companies interested in servicing Atherton's unique waste stream. Greenwaste Recovery responded to that public bid and the Town is negotiating a detailed proposal for the collection, processing, recycling and disposal of the waste stream. Greenwaste has also provided a bid that complies with pending legislation and guarantees the Town's future compliance as part of their proposal at no additional cost (based on their bid). Greenwwaste Recovery currently provides services to the Town of Woodside and the Town of Portola Valley.

As a member of the SBWMA, the Town must provide a Notice of Intent to Withdraw to provide the Town and the SBWMA the opportunity to negotiate exit costs. The current Franchise Agreement with Recology ends by limitation in December 2020. The CIty Council is the decision-making body for the provision of waste collection and processing services to the community and before committing to a 15-year franchise agreement with 2, 5-year extensions, with the SBWMA and Recology thought it prudent to evaluate the cost of service delivery.

The 15-year franchise agreement renewal, with 2 5-year extensions is the alternative that was discussed by the Council over the course of several public meetings in 2019.

If you would like additional information regarding this issue, please feel free to contact me at grodericks@ci.atherton.ca.us.

George

George Rodericks
City Manager
Town of Atherton

Thanks, George! That clarified the key issues.

If we can maintain similar quality of service and cut costs to residents, I'm all for it.

George states "Because the costs of the SBMWA are not separated based on the percentage of residential and commercial for each agency, Atherton residents pay to subsidize the services and programs provided to the other member agencies."


Just as I stated "The Town Council wants to become the Grand Duchy of Atherton with no responsibility for anything beyond its boundaries. Of course the Town still wants to benefit from all of the services provided at the County, State and Federal levels"

There is irony in this. The the costs for garbage collection services in more dense populations areas (like San Mateo and Redwood City) are less expensive than in less dense towns( like Atherton), and the costs for collection services in cities that are farther from the Shoreway Center are more expensive than those that are closer. So most likely, Atherton residents have had their rates subsidized by other cities in the JPA for years.