DINUBA – The city of Dinuba closed the lid on its search for the best solid waste disposal contractor, opting to continue a relationship that has spanned more than four decades with locally-owned Peña’s Disposal.
The Dinuba City Council unanimously voted on Oct. 22 to enter into new contract negotiations with Peña’s Disposal, which faced competition from Mid Valley Disposal. After hearing presentations from the owners of both companies, the city council said that while they were impressed by Mid Valley’s operations, they value the community-oriented service provided by Peña’s too much to toss them out.
Vice Mayor Rachel Nerio-Guerrero said she had the chance to tour both the Mid Valley Disposal facilities and Peña’s Disposal facilities and thought Mid Valley was beautiful and “really top notch.” Visiting Peña’s — which is just five miles away in Cutler — she said she got to talking to owner Art Peña about how closely involved he and his employees are with the Dinuba community.
“It’s the human side of Peña’s,” Nerio-Guerrero said. “He was telling me that people bike ride to work because it’s so close … and he mentioned that people have called him and said, ‘Art, I lost something in the trash,’ and he’s able to hunt down whatever truck it was. … It’s really nice that we have a community person that cares about us here, and so that’s what I really appreciate Art all these years for doing.”
Dinuba opened up the competitive bidding process for garbage contractors toward the beginning of the year following a request from city staff. The city’s contract with Peña’s has been amended and extended for more than 40 years, without the city allowing for other companies to bid on the contract, which is unusual for most other services that the city contracts out for.
By undergoing a new bidding process, city staff said they would be able to ensure that the selected garbage contractor is fully in compliance with new state regulations mandated by Senate Bill 1383 and is providing the city with the best rates possible. According to a city staff report, Dinuba received four total proposals from contractors and convened a six-person review committee to evaluate and rank the bids.
The committee then interviewed and toured the two companies that received the highest scores — Mid Valley and Peña’s — and city staff then requested the council to make its choice between the two. Although Mid Valley received the highest overall score from the committee, Peña’s offered lower residential and overall rates, as well as a two-year rate lock, the staff report said.
During the presentations to the council, Mid Valley Disposal President and CEO Joseph Kalpakoff showed the company’s composting facility, new trucks and safety features and roll-out plan, which it has implemented in six different Valley cities over the last three years. Kalpakoff also said that if Dinuba awarded Mid Valley the contract — effectively putting Peña’s out of business — he would offer employment to any Peña’s worker.
Peña disputed some of the statements provided in the city’s staff report that he felt did not accurately represent what was submitted in the company’s Request for Proposal (RFP), such as that Peña’s can commit to purchasing new CNG (clean natural gas) garbage trucks just as Mid Valley can. Peña also said that his company has kept the city in compliance with SB 1383 and is capable of continuing to do so.
“Our goal is to keep the city in compliance, that’s always been our goal, and to provide local jobs for the community, and we’ve done that, we have stayed true to our word,” Peña said. “Our small size is no disadvantage; it helps us to serve our community.”
Councilmember Linda Launer provided her impressions as one of the committee members and as someone who spent their career as a public and environmental health specialist. Launer said when looking at the two companies, in Mid Valley “you have equipment that looks nice and pretty” and in Peña’s “you have equipment that does its function.”
Ultimately, Launer said that on top of valuing the local jobs that Peña’s creates with its semi-automated processes, compared to fully automated processes that Mid Valley has in place, she preferred Peña’s because she sees Mid Valley as a company that’s growing into a monopoly.
Mid Valley provides service to approximately 20 cities in the Valley along with multiple unincorporated areas, and Launer said she does not want Dinuba to be put into a position where it has no control over rising service rates.
“I don’t want to be put in a situation or part of a monopoly, and have to go with the crowd; we see it with our electric bills right now,” Launer said.
Multiple residents also provided their perspective during public comment, putting their support behind Peña’s Disposal and emphasizing the importance it has in the community — more than one third of Peña’s employees are Dinuba residents.
Although Dinuba will not see a change in garbage contractors, the city will still enter into negotiations with Peña’s for a new contract; the current contract expires on June 30, 2025.
