Cimarron takes the lead in solid waste race

Published 4:45 pm Monday, July 23, 2012

The heat is on and it still might be anyone’s game.

After receiving proposals from two applicants seeking to run the Orcas transfer station, the Vendor Selection Committee has recommended Cimarron Trucking over Orcas Recycling Services.

The endorsement will be formally presented to the council on July 24.

“It will be up to the council as to when the selection will be made,” said Council Chairwoman Patty Miller, who lives on Orcas.

Both bid submittals were presented last week and can be viewed online at www.sanjuanco.com/sw-rfp/.

The vendor selection committee consists of Miller, Steve Alexander and Russ Harvey of solid waste, and Jeff Strothers and Lisa Byers of Orcas Island. It is a council-appointed ad hoc group.

The report read: “Neither proposal sufficiently addresses all of the stated RFP vendor selection criteria. However, the VSC has initially determined that Cimarron is the best qualified … with the proviso that prior to entering contract negotiations … Cimarron modify its proposal to address key inadequacies.”

Those problem areas are: compatibility with the Exchange and public communication.

Blair Estenson,  Cimarron’s president, told the Sounder, “we’ll work with the Exchange” to continue “the valuable services they provide to Orcas Island.”

Mark De Tray, executive director of ORS, the nonprofit that runs The Exchange, was hopeful their proposal would receive the trust of the committee.

ORS will present its proposal during a public forum at the Orcas Fire Hall on Friday, July 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It held a similar meeting on July 23.

“The Vendor Selection Committee report may seem to make Cimarron’s proposal points look more polished and professional, but how will Cimarron guarantee price stability while still reducing waste? It won’t,” wrote Orcas resident Sadie Bailey in a July 23 letter to the editor. She urged the council to vote for the ORS proposal.

Cimarron Trucking Company of Anacortes is the current contract hauler for solid waste from Orcas. Estenson says his company “is ready to go,” and  “knows what it’s doing, we’ve got the equipment and we’ve already agreed with San Juan Sanitation to continue” to bring their curbside pickup garbage trucks to Orcas.

According to the VSC, the proposals came within less than two percent of each other on a total possible score.

Per the report, the “perceived strengths” of Cimarron were: its ability to accommodate variation in waste stream volume; existing affiliate relationships and progress toward solidifying the remaining agreements; stability of proposed price structures; management expertise; and readiness to execute a smooth transition.

The committee also had “significant reservations” with Cimarron. In addition to its concerns about compatibility with the Exchange and public outreach, problem areas included responsiveness to the county’s solid waste management plan that identifies reduction, recycling and reuse as priorities and ability of the operations to accommodate peak self-haul demand.

Lopez station

Organizers of the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District, which intends to run the Lopez transfer station have put the finishing touches on both a budget and a proposed tax package, responding to intense questions from the county council. It will be reviewed by the council on July 24.

“We’re very confident that the budget and tax proposal is solid,” said Larry Eppenbach, Lopez district board member. “We’ve done this right. We asked the people of Lopez to trust us, and we know we have to continue building that trust.”

Unless the council balks at the numbers, the council will send the group’s tax proposal, a 9.5 cents per 1,000 property tax levy, to the elections office for the November ballot. If approved, the increase would raise $100,000 of the total $414,577 budget.

To read Cimarron and Orcas Recycling Services’ proposals, go to www.sanjuanco.com/sw-rfp/.

Steve Wehrly, Journal reporter, contributed to this story