City Council votes on a long-term garbage contract with Richard's Disposal. See what happened

Trash crisis averted, at least for the time being. Garbage will continue to be collected in Jackson.

In a 4-3 vote, and after 2 hours of discussion, the Jackson City Council approved a six-year contract with Richard's Disposal Inc., with an amendment calling for the removal of trash carts. The long-term contract will go into effect April 1. The current emergency contract with Richard's Disposal expires on March 31.

It was similar party lines as last year's vote. Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley voted to reject Richard's. Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee, Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell, Ward 6 Councilman and Council President Aaron Banks and Ward 7 Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay voted to approve.

Banks, who voted against Richard's last year, was the flipped vote.

But the vote almost failed due to the amendment approved by the council earlier Tuesday that would remove trash carts from the contract. The original contract presented to the council called for Richard's to purchase 45,000 carts. Initially, the amended Richard's contract was rejected, 4-3, on Tuesday, after Grizzell sided with Foote, Stokes and Hartley. Grizell said he wanted to keep the trash carts, which is why he sided with those council members historically opposed to Richard's.

Lee leaned back away from the mic as did Grizzell. Lee quickly called for a vote to reconsider, and Grizzell changed his mind, giving Richard's the needed four votes and thus avoiding another trash crisis.

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Finally, residents have an answer to a question that has been looming over the city all year: Would Jacksonians have to face a trash crisis for the second year in a row? Or would city leaders be able to set aside their differences and agree on a long-term contract?

It wasn't without fireworks, as expected. Council members screamed at each other; council members screamed at Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba; the mayor fired back. Both Alvin Richard, the president and CEO of Richard's Disposal, and Lee Bush, president and CEO of National Collections United LLC., — the second and only other bidder — were in attendance.

Those against Richard's — Foote, Stokes and Hartley — complained that the city waited until the last minute to figure out the contract, therefore not giving the council enough time to review, that the RFP process wasn't done fairly and that there weren't enough vendors who bid on the RFP because trash companies were scared of the city's two ongoing legal disputes with Richard's Disposal.

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"We had nine months to get this thing together," Hartley said. "We've been goaded into this situation."

Lumumba defended the timeline.

"We said that there was still a legal case and we had to protect the interest of residents," Lumumba said. "We did it (issued the RFP) in spite of the fact that we knew not only would it cost us more money, but there were potential risks to us ... It brought us to the point that Tori (former City Attorney Catoria Martin), at the time that she said we were issuing the RFP, that it would come right at this time."

The $64 million contract, at $891,000 per month, with Richard's Disposal is over a period of six years, with four options of one-year each which can be exercised by the city. Garbage will be collected twice a week Monday- Saturday.

The long-term contract is about a $83,000 monthly increase from the city's current emergency contract with Richard's, which cost $808,035 per month. Back in 2021, Richard's Disposal submitted a bid for a long-term contract worth $765,000 per month. Accepting the bid in 2021, taxpayers would have saved $43,035 per month, $516,420 per year and $1,549,260 over a three-year period compared to the emergency contract. That savings would be even greater compared to the new contract.

Grizzell and Lee made this point, that Richard's bid has increased every year, several times throughout the debate.

"I just wanted to say that if cost was an issue, we should have settled this then (last year) versus now," Grizzell said.

Much of the debate centered on carts

The initial contract stated that Richard's would provide roughly 45,000, 96-gallon trash carts for residents, though using them is optional. If a resident has a cart already, they can use that one. Trash bags on the street will also be picked up.

The council voted, 5-2, on an amendment that would remove the carts from the contract. Foote, Lee, Stokes, Banks and Hartley voted to remove the carts. Grizzell and Lindsay voted against.

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At the end of the day, the removal of the carts has to be negotiated by the city and Richard's Disposal. Gloria Greene, the attorney for Richard's Disposal told the council they would be willing to negotiate.

If Richard's Disposal doesn't agree to the removal of the carts, then the contract will have to be voted on again by the council, according to City Attorney Drew Martin.

If the company does agree to the removal of carts, it could potentially knock the price of the contract down more than $4 million. Right now, each cart costs $96. Doing the math, 45,000 carts cost the city around $4.3 million.

So, which company had the lowest bid?

Only two companies submitted bids in response to the city's 2023 RFP for solid waste collection: Richard's Disposal and National Collections United LLC.

Richard's Disposal submitted a bid on the contract for $891,000 per month for six years, according to the contract. National Collections United LLC submitted a bid for $874,000, according to Bush, who told the council members their bid during the meeting.

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Both companies were reviewed by an evaluation committee, with Richard's Disposal ultimately being selected. This raised concerns from Stokes and Hartley, who questioned why the company with the lowest bid wasn't chosen.

In response, Lumumba handed out a memo, dated Feb. 7, to council members, the press and members of the public. Although National Collections United LLC submitted the lowest bid, the memo states the company wasn't able to meet the minimum requirements the RFP required.

Those requirements included evidence of purchased garbage trucks, evidence of an insurance bond for the garbage trucks in the circumstance that an accident happens and evidence that the companies have a "minimum of five years of experience collecting and transporting solid waste for a governmental entity with a population at least as large" as Jackson.

To each of those requirements, according to the memo, National Collections United LLC responded: "We have not completed the information requested. We're sending the information we have on file that includes. Pictures of proposed truck and other certificates attached."

Richard Disposal responded, according to the memo, that they "currently have 21 leased" garbage trucks in possession, that the company "did submit a bid bond for this project," and the company "has had the City of New Orleans Residential Solid Waste Contract since 2007," as well as servicing the City of East Baton Rouge for the past two years. Richard's Disposal has also been servicing the City of Jackson for the past two years.

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"I didn't disqualify anybody," Lumumba said. "It was the committee in its scoring, and it was the legal department in its review of the minimum requirements of the RFP, that said that those requirements didn't match."

Stokes' amendments

Stokes attempted to make four amendments to the contract. After making a motion for some of the amendments, the councilman could be seen laughing, while other council members shook their heads in annoyance. City Attorney Drew Martin told Stokes that he believes some of his amendments would be illegal due to state procurement laws.

Each amendment failed in a 4-3 vote. Foote, Stokes and Hartley voted in favor; Lee, Grizzell, Banks and Lindsay all voted against.

Stokes four failed amendments were as follows:

• An amendment to remove Richard's Disposal and give the contract to National Collections United, LLC. Martin advised that he believed this would be illegal under Mississippi's procurement laws.

• An amendment to make the contract last for only two years, until 2025. Martin said he believed the price of the contract would increase if this was supported.

• An amendment to change the price of the contract from $891,000 to $765,000, which was Richard's previous bid on the city's 2021 RFP.

• An amendment to give the contract to National Collections United LLC., and make Richard's Disposal a subcontractor. Again, Martin advised that he believes this would be illegal under Mississippi's procurement laws.

The Ward 3 councilman was vehemently opposed to the city doing any business with Richard's Disposal. Before the vote on the long-term contract and for the second meeting in a row, Stokes introduced an ordinance that would ban the city from doing any business at all with Richard's Disposal. That ordinance failed again in a 4-3 vote.

Banks continues push for local, minority subcontractor

One of the issues Banks has been fighting for was an amendment of the contract that required Richard's Disposal to use a local, minority subcontractor. He specifically fought for National Collections United LLC., to be that subcontractor during the meeting, as he did at a town hall he hosted last week.

It came to the point where he asked council members to take a straw poll, not an official vote, on who would be in favor of the amendment.

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Grizzell, as well as Lindsay, refused to participate in the straw poll.

"The last time I checked we lived in the United States of America. A capitalistic democracy. There's no way as a business owner somebody is going to force me to do business with anybody else," Grizzell said. "That's between them to work out … that has nothing to do with the council."

Banks, who by this point was visibly worn out from all of the meeting's discussion, said he wasn't trying to force Richard's Disposal, but was only trying to see how the council feels about the amendment.

No vote or straw poll took place on Banks' proposed amendment.

Got a story idea? Want to talk about issues facing the City of Jackson? Contact Charlie Drape at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Trash crisis avoided in Jackson MS, Council approves Richard's Disposal