e19: Get that Trash Outta here - Municipalities can be anti-monopoly too

Welcome back to Monopolies Killed My Hometown. We're back after my little hiatus with an episode on garbage removal and how I see Municipalities contributing to the Anti-Monopoly Fight. In this episode we're looking at the Town of Amherst's tender process for the new 5-year waste removal contract. My take is that the Town of Amherst combined their tender with the Municipality of Cumberland to increase their bargaining power in order to get the best possible value for Citizens. I appreciate this goal. However this approach only solicited two tenders, and I'm certain with two bids we didn't get the lowest possible price. I explain my theory that breaking the tender into smaller pieces could have actually solicited more tenders, and perhaps a lower price for Citizens.

Some links from the episode:

• Solid Waste Collection Contract Awarded
• Miller Waste awarded 2018 Waste Removal Contract
• Municipal Group of Companies
• Miller Group
• 2023 Waste Collection Tender
• 2018 Waste Collection Tender