Redondo Beach council directs staff to negotiate with Athens Services on rate restructure and Prop 218 process

The City Council authorized staff to negotiate a revised amendment with Athens Services that would restructure commercial and multifamily solid-waste rates and to initiate the Proposition 218 process for rate setting.

Staff presented consultant HF&H’s analysis of two options; staff recommended Option 2, which would reclassify multifamily buildings with five or more units as commercial customers to align service categories and delivery costs. The study found Redondo Beach rates under Option 2 would remain low compared with regional peers in many service bands, but that some multifamily customers could see larger percentage increases and would need mitigation and property-level adjustments.

Athens representatives said field outreach and recycling-coordinator support can help multifamily customers reduce waste container size and transition to a three-stream system, mitigating bill increases. Council members emphasized customer protections: retaining warning/notification prior to fines or service suspensions, ensuring liquidated-damages and indemnities remain robust, and negotiating reasonable exclusive roll-off terms with safeguards (e.g., median/average roll-off-price mechanisms or Council approval of initial roll-off rates). Council also excluded the South Bay Galleria from immediate exclusivity and instructed staff to return with negotiated contract language and a Prop 218 schedule.

Councilmember Barrett made the motion to pursue Option 2, exclude the Galleria from immediate exclusivity, preserve warning-notification practices prior to enforcement, and start the Prop 218 process; the council voted unanimously to direct staff to negotiate those terms and return with a draft amendment and follow-up steps.