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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—APRIL 22, 2024 8 City Administrator Perrault stated the City Council entered into a recycling contract with Republic Services in 2015, and since then the City has elected to exercise its right to renew the contract with the final renewal being exercised last year. The current contract is set to expire in April 2025. City Staff has engaged with Foth Infrastructure and Environment LLC to assist the City in its renewal process. Foth has a contract with Ramsey County to provide technical assistance to cities when it comes to garbage and recycling services. Foth is preparing a memo for the City Council to review regarding its options, the memo will be made available at the meeting. Following review of the memo, he noted Council would need to decide on a course of action regarding its recycling contract. Councilmember Holden asked how the City utilized the SCORE Grant. City Administrator Perrault reported these funds were used to offset administrative fees, fund clean up days and provide capital for recycling bins. Councilmember Holden stated it was not important to her who provided the recycling service, but rather how much of the material gathered was recycled. She asked if the City was receiving complaints regarding Republic. City Administrator Perrault indicated by and large residents have been happy with Republic. Councilmember Holden requested staff provide the Council with more information on the percentage of recycling that was actually recycled by Republic. City Administrator Perrault stated he would have to look into this further and would report back to the Council. Councilmember Monson commented on how the waste site in Ramsey County was working to sort out metals, plastics and glass from the trash. She stated she would be interested in getting economic information from across the City to see if there were cost disparities from providers to see if it was worth the Council's time to explore having a single hauler. Councilmember Fabel asked why the City would not do an RFP. City Administrator Perrault stated Foth indicated Republic was providing very reasonable rates without going out for RFPs. Mayor Grant commented he did not have a problem renegotiating with Republic. Councilmember Rousseau reported if the City were to negotiate with Republic and they came back with a rate of$10, would the City have enough time to go out for an RFP. City Administrator Perrault discussed the proposed timeline and stated negotiations would have to begin fairly quickly. Councilmember Rousseau indicated she supported staff pursuing negotiations with Republic. Councilmember Holden explained most of the time RFPs were a matter of public record and Republic would be able to see what other people were bidding.