WM Offer Pushes Town to Open Bid Process

After a promising offer was made by a competing solid waste company, the town of Windham has decided to go back on its original decision to extend its contract with Covanta Energy Corporation.

Instead, the Board of Selectmen voted on Aug. 13 to open up the bidding process to all other companies.

Windham Transfer Station Manager Dave Poulson informed the board that he was contacted by Waste Management Inc. of Rochester, N.H. one day after the decision on June 26.

According to Poulson, Waste Management delivered a competitive offer that also gave the town a location in North Andover, Mass, which according to Poulson put the company on an even playing field with Covanta.

With the locations potentially the same, the tipping fee has now become the focal point, and Poulson said that Waste Management offered a competitive fee that could deliver significant savings.

At the time of the board's decision, many of the Selectmen agreed that the Covanta offer was the best the town could get. That extension would have created a flat rate tipping fee of $72 per ton each year.

Poulson tried to get the board to tailor bid restrictions to only allow companies within a 25-mile radius to bid, which would have essentially set up Waste Management and Covanta as the only possible bidders. The majority of the board members did not bite on that request, electing to open the bids to every company.

"I'm hoping Covanta will bid against Waste Management," Poulson said. "The drift I got from Covanta was that they were willing to bid."

Poulson expressed worry that opening the bidding to all companies could allow more freedom for Waste Management to switch its North Andover location offer to another location.

But he also say that ultimately, however the process goes, the town will benefit financially.

The contract with Covanta is expired at the end of 2013, and the town is looking for a new five-year contact.