In an effort to receive a better price for services, it seemed at first that the City of Bentonville was prepared to dump the trash and recycling provider that has served Bentonville for more than 20 years.

But hiccups in the bidding process have now made it unclear which company will handle trash pickup when the current contract expires at the end of September.

An open bid—where new vendors can compete for the city’s business—hadn’t been held for trash pickup service in more than 10 years. Relatively satisfied with the existing service, the city has renewed its contract with Republic Services every few years.

By soliciting bids, the City was doing its due diligence and following best practices to see if another company could offer a better deal. Starting fresh also allows more flexibility than tacking on another contract extension.

Three bids were considered: one from WM, one from Republic Services, and one from Cards.

Cards submitted the lowest bid, which was 17% cheaper than the second-lowest bidder, Republic Services. Ahead of the June 24 city council meeting, city staff recommended awarding the five-year contract to Cards, citing potential savings of $1,369,183.68 per year.

But at that same meeting, concerns were raised by Republic Services as well as City Council members.

Republic Services representatives argued that a lower bid didn’t necessarily mean a better one.

“Residents here are used to pristine service. They’re used to not having to stress about trash service. And this is the result of decades of partnerships, local accountability, and pride in servicing the city,” a Republic executive said. “There will always be a cheaper price in anything we do, but Bentonville deserves better than just the lowest price. This decision should be about value — value that includes safety, reliability, and responsive local service.”

Some Council Members voiced concerns about news reports involving Cards, including articles about the Missouri Attorney General investigating the company’s practices.

Cards leadership responded by saying the issues stemmed from rapid growth and acquisitions in 2024, and noted the company serves more than 60 municipalities and has never lost a contract due to service failures.

Legal staff advised council members they can choose a bid that isn’t the lowest price — but only if there are “articulable facts” that justify the decision that would hold up to potential litigation.

The city council tabled the issue for further discussion at its July 8 meeting.

When the discussion resumed on July 8, City staff said that Cards’ bid had been disqualified in between meetings. Upon further review, it was discovered that the company did not meet some of the bid requirements.

The bid documents required vendors to have either:

City attorneys determined Cards did not meet either threshold.

The other two bids — WM and Republic — were also disqualified, but for different reasons.

City attorney David Bailey said those companies submitted too many “redlines,” or requested edits, to the proposed contract — making their bids “non-responsive” and invalid. On the advice of legal counsel, all council members voted to reject the three bids, except Beckie Seba, who abstained.

The City is on a tight timeline to wrap up the selection process. The next step is to go back to Republic Services and try to negotiate another contract extension.

Republic Services staff expressed strong interest in continuing service in Bentonville, saying their redlines were meant to open discussion — not signal dealbreakers.

“In our bid, the first sentence … says we respectfully request the right to negotiate the contract. It doesn’t say these are dealbreakers at all,” said Jennifer Fagan, municipal sales manager for Republic. She said the company’s proposed tweaks included relaxing a requirement to have phone numbers on bins and clauses to protect the company in the event of a natural disaster.

“These are not items that would prevent us from doing business together — they’re just topics for conversation,” said Jayson Heberlein, Republic Services’ general manager for the Bentonville area. 

“Maybe the redline wasn’t the right way to communicate those concerns,” Council Member Beckie Seba said, “but I do appreciate anyone who says, ‘Hey, we don’t want to just blanket sign this when we have concerns.’”

If negotiations fall through, the City will launch a brand-new bidding process on an expedited timeline.

“Our recommendation is it only goes back out to bid if negotiations fail,” Bailey said. “We’re on a pretty tight timeline, so the negotiations will be rather short and quick.”