Active SLED Opportunity · COLORADO · CITY OF GOLDEN
AI Summary
The City of Golden seeks proposals for residential waste collection services to support sustainability goals, including waste diversion and cost-effective recycling programs. Proposals due May 8, 2026.
The City of Golden is seeking proposals for City of Golden Residential Waste Collection Services Contract. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, May 8, 2026. Questions must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, April 17, 2026. Proposals and Questions must be submitted through the E-Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/cityofgolden.
The following link has helpful information and videos for vendors, contractors, and consultants new to OpenGov Procurement - Video Guides: OpenGov Procurement Vendor Training. It is strongly encouraged to familiarize yourself with the portal well in advance of the bid submission date, email the Project Manager or Procurement Manager with portal questions, and use the OpenGov chat feature in the lower righthand corner.
The City currently administers a residential single hauler waste, recycling and organics collection program using unit-based pricing for approximately 4,700 residences wtihin the city. The City is authorized by Colorado Revised Statutes §30-15-401 to impose fees upon single family residential properties and multifamily residential units of less than eight (8) units for the provision of residential waste services.
The requirements of the City’s residential waste services program is set forth in Chapter 4.82 of the Golden Municipal Code, Residential Waste Service Collection.
The City of Golden implemented its single hauler residential waste collection program in 2010 which serves about 60% of the City's residential units within the City limits, about 9 square miles. As part of the City's adopted Sustainability goals, the Golden community strives toward a 80% diversion goal for recycling and compost (organics) collections. As part of this strategy, the City utilizes a Pay-As-You-Throw volume-based pricing system which incentivizes households to divert materials by participating in the program's recycling and organics collections and rewarding households with lower pricing for smaller volumes of trash collection.
The program has been well supported over the years by the Golden City Council, the Community Sustainability Advisory Board and citizens who actively engage with the program.
The City desires to continue a residential waste services program to further the following goals:
1. The City has adopted a series of waste, water and energy sustainability goals to divert materials away from local landfills through several targets, including:
To reduce total landfill contribution by 40% by 2030. This means:
1) Recycle 80% of recyclables by 2030.
2) Compost 80% of compostables by 2030.
3) Reduce total trash by 20% by 2030.
4) Strive for zero waste in municipal operations by 2030.
2. To provide equal access to all for curbside recycling service and increase recycling participation rates.
3. To secure cost-effective options for Golden households. The City provides residents with the ability to choose which type of service level they desire, with a financial incentive of lower monthly costs if they recycle and choose a smaller waste cart.
4. To obtain accurate volume measurements for separate waste streams to be able to measure community generation rates for trash, recyclables, and organic materials.
In general, it is the intention of the City to promote additional opportunities for curbside collection services and where possible, reduce the number of drop-off style events to eliminate unnecessary vehicle trips and increase the convenience to Golden residents.
Briefly discuss firm and project team qualifications that are being proposed for the Project and describe.
Pricing will be reviewed and evaluated in terms of overall cost competitiveness. Proposals will be evaluated based on the total cost of service to the City and its customers.
Customer service elements shall be reviewed and may be evaluated with respect to the following items:
Operations elements will be evaluated with respect to the following items:
Sustainability elements will be evaluated with respect to the following items:
Please upload proposal per Proposal Elements and Format Section.
A completed Acceptance of Conditions Statement is required. This Statement affirms the acceptance of all conditions or requirements contained in the Request for Qualifications, and lists the names of any of the submitting firm’s employees, and any proposed subconsultant’s employees, who are spouses or children of City employees or the spouse of a City employee’s child.
Please download the document, complete, and upload.
Failure to commit to DBE requirements will result is rejection of proposal.
CDOT Affidavit of Small Business Participation must submitted with the proposal. Failure of the proposer to submit the affidavit will result in the consultant being deemed non- responsive and ineligible for award.
Please download the below document, complete, and upload.
For information only and not to be used as part of evaluation
For information only and not to be used as part of evaluation
For information only and not to be used as part of evaluation
For information only and not to be used as part of evaluation
For information only and not to be used as part of evaluation
Q (Compost): What is allowed in the compost containers? What is not allowed?
A: The City will align with the acceptable materials list published by the end processor. In past years, the processor has been either A-1 Organics site in Keenesburg or the Republic Services (formerly GFL or Alpine Waste) compost site at its landfill in Bennett. Currently, residents are allowed to place yard waste and kitchen waste only in the organics/compost carts for service and no compostable-ware products are allowed.
Q (Compost and Recycling): Since recycle services are every other week, can we offer recycle one week and compost on the opposite week?
A: Yes, that is how the program has operated since 2010: alternating weeks of recycle, then compost. Please see the 2025 Calendar for the current schedule of alternating recycle and compost weeks.
Q (Prevailing Wage Tax): Does the city of Golden have a prevailing wage/tax?
A: No.
Q (Disposal Costs of Compost): Who is responsible for covering the compost disposal costs?
A: The contracted waste hauler would be responsible. Proposed rates submitted in the Pricing Proposals worksheet should be inclusive of disposal costs.
Q (Disposal of Waste Streams): Does the City of Golden have requirements or preferred places for disposal of trash, recycling, and compost?
A: No, it is the Contractor's choice, but recycling is required go to a Materials Recovery Facility that typically accepts most single-stream recycling materials and organics is required to go to a State certified compost operation. The City may periodically require tickets or receipts from these facilities to demonstrate proof of transport to and acceptance at the MRF or compost facility.
Q (Container Inventory ): Will containers currently in use continue to be used? Will the City purchase all containers and replacement parts needed during the term of the agreement? Where will the inventory of containers and parts be stored? Will the contractor be responsible for repairing containers (when repair is an option) and, if so, will the contractor be paid for this?
A: Yes, the current supply of city-owned carts will be continued to be used. Yes, the City is responsible for the purchase of all new containers and replacement parts needed duing the term of the agreement. The inventory of surplus containers and parts must be stored at a Contractor's facility. The Contractor is responsible for repairing containers when repair is an option. No, Contractors will not be paid separately for repairs, your pricing of rates per household should be inclusive of expected costs for repairs.
Q (Bulky Waste collections ): How many residents requested 1, 2, 3, 4 or more than 4 Bulky Waste collections in 2025. Please indicate the number of residents for each. For example, 200 residents requested 1 Bulky Waste collection, 80 residents requested 2 Bulky Waste collections, etc.
A: The City currently covers the cost of the first large item pickup per household per calendar year, of which there were a total of 270 bulky items collected in 2025 (see Appendix A). Large items beyond the first are paid for by the resident, directly to the Contractor and recent monthly reports from the first three months of 2026 do not show any additional bulky waste pickups.
Q (Free carry-out service): How many residents currently receive free carry-out service?
A: 25 households currently receive free carry-out and carry-back services each month.
Q (Recycling carts): How many residents currently have 2, 3, 4 or 5 recycling carts? Please indicate the number of residents for each.
A: As of March 2026, 95 households have two recycling carts, 25 households have three recycling carts, 7 households have four recycling carts and 3 households have five recycling carts.
Q (Organic containers): How many residents currently have 2, 3, 5 or 5 organics carts? Please indicate the number of residents for each.
A: As of March 2026, 98 households have two organics carts, 12 households have three organics carts, and one household has four organics carts. One residential complex that receives dumpster services for trash and for recycling also receives service for 12 compost carts.
Q (Container exchanges): How many container exchanges were made in 2025, broken down by refuse, recyclables and organics?
A: As shown in Appendix A, a total of 707 carts were exchanged (for deliveries, removals or replacements) in 2025. The City does not have further detail based on cart type.
Q (Liquidated damage #14): On liquidated damage #14, can you clarify the criteria for failure to perform?
A: The City publishes a "Welcome Packet" via email to new customers which is expected to be mailed or emailed to new households that are added to the program but is voluntarily provided if a household is already part of the program but has a new owner or renter that requests it. Of the small number of new households (new construction with new addresses and new billing account numbers) added to the program each year, the City is asking the Contractor to email the welcome packet before the start of new services. The criterial for failure to perform is that the Contractor cannot provide proof of an email or of a printed mailing of the welcome packet to new customers. As a practice, City staff and the main Contractor customer service representative work closely together on adding new customers, typically receiving names, emails and new mailing addresses, all of which methods can be used to provide a welcome packet. In the history of the program, the City has never levied fees or fines for this item.
Q (Liquidated damages): Did the City assess any liquidated damages in 2025? If so, how much?
A: No, the City did not assess any liquidated damange or impose any performance fees in 2025.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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