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6.1.A. - Page 5 new containers, d ifferent routes and new management. Mayor I ra acknowledged and thanked Public Works staff and Recology for their hard work. A Council Member asked for information on the apolitical competitive bidding process for the selection of the service provider and how no elected officials were involved in the selection process. Mr. Boyd said that process began in 2005 with SBWMA (South Bayside Waste Management Authority) and he asked Mr. Ponty to continue. Mr. Ponty provided details on this extensive process. The decision was made to move forward with Norcal, and Norcal subsequently changed its name to Recology during this process, but it was still the same group of people that had submitted the proposal. The proposal was sent out to each of the twelve member agencies for review and approval which involved a lengthy process and with a lot of check points. Mr. Ponty expressed confidence that while there were competitors that were not happy, the process had the appropriate level of due diligence and the right decision was made. A Council Member, and as she noted, also a Utilities SubCommittee Member, explained that each of the twelve member agencies of the SBWMA JPA (Joint Powers Authority) reviewed and approved the proposal by Norcal with the same menu of core services across the board and that each agency may have also had, with community input, specific services that remained the same or changed. Mr. Ponty concurred that during the RFP process, each elected body was approached with the proposed core services, primarily for single-stream, weekly recycling service and automated solid waste collection, and that each City Council and the West Bay Sanitary District saw this several times before each approved the service concept that went into the RFP. SBWMA then finalized and released the RFP to market. Another Council Member spoke about the magnitude of this transition, the importance of the long-term benefits and asked Mr. Boyd to share his experience when he was the general manager for Allied Waste for San Mateo County. Mr. Boyd said he had participated as an incumbent bidder in this process, is keenly aware of the issues and opined that any of the other bidders would likely have experienced the same types of transition issues. Mr. Boyd introduced Mr. Mario Puccinelli, General Manager for Recology to begin the presentation. He shared recent successes that included the a 78 percent increase in the amount of organics collected, a 31 percent increase in recycling materials, and how they are making strides toward waste zero. He reviewed specific steps Recology has taken and will take to get issues resolved and their work on continuous improvement with a goal of no service interruptions. He said the morale of their team remains strong and committed to exemplary service to the City of Redwood City. A Council Member asked about how old Recology is and it being employee-owned. Mr. Puccinelli, provided historical information on their company. Another Council Member asked about why the diversion rate is important and the implications to the community. Mr. Puccinelli explained that the 52 percent diversion rate means that this is not going into the landfill, thereby extending landfill life and closing the loop. Mr. Boyd said that the state-mandated AB 939 requires that cities JOINT CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD January 10, 2011 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 5