Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Public Works Department

TO:	David Corliss, City Manager Charles Soules, Public Works Director
FROM:	Tammy Bennett, Assistant Public Works Director
CC:	Craig Pruett, Solid Waste Operations Supervisor Kathy Richardson, Waste Reduction and Recycling Operations Supervisor
Date:	August 8, 2012
RE:	Roll-out carts for solid waste trash service rate recommendations for 2013

The City Commission reviewed and discussed information on the residential roll-out cart program multiple times in 2012.  Bids received for the roll-out carts were within estimates.  Staff is ready to proceed with program implementation, if appropriate.  Time is of the essence in order to have additional carts on the curb in the October time frame.

Based on the competitive bids received and previous Commission discussions, below is the chart of recommendations for solid waste rates once the cart program is implemented:

Solid Waste Services – Single family with …	Rate Recommendation	Change from current service
65 gallon roll-out cart	$ 14.94 / month	Customers who use cart now: Save $1.50 monthly. Customers who do not use cart now: No change in monthly rate; add the roll-out cart.
90 gallon roll-out cart	$ 15.94 / month	Customers who use cart now: Save $1.00 monthly. Customers who do not use cart now: Add larger roll-out cart and $1.00 monthly to base rate.
35 gallon roll-out cart	$ 14.44 / month	Reduce rate by $0.50 monthly, and add cart.
Additional trash carts:
65 gallon cart	$ 3.00 / month	$ 1.50 / month
90 gallon cart	$ 4.00 / month	$ 2.00 / month
Cart replacement fee (lost, destroyed, moved & took with)	$ 50.00

Staff recommends a 120-day right-sizing period to allow customers and/or staff to identify the cart option which best fits individual customer needs.  Thus, if someone gets one size of container but regularly exceeds capacity, we will switch out to appropriate size.  After the “right-sizing period,” a delivery fee would be implemented to continue to switch out sizes.

The department plans to implement regular data collection processes once the roll-out cart program is implemented.  Data collection over a number of weeks / seasons will provide must more reliable, replicate-able information on the actual landfill cost differences experienced between cart sizes.  This data will be valuable in considering variable rate pricing strategies in future years.

Action request:

Direct staff to proceed with the residential roll-out cart program implementation, if appropriate.

Approve the general rate structure, and direct staff to prepare the 2013 solid waste rate ordinance accordingly.

Attachments:

April 16, 2012 Memo:  Implementation of roll-out carts for solid waste trash service

July 5, 2012 Memo:  Roll-out carts for solid waste trash service – follow up information