The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday approved the transfer of Allied Waste Services of Santa Barbara to MarBorg Industries.

The vote followed MarBorg’s seemingly smooth transition to take over Allied’s zones in Goleta and Noleta during the past couple weeks. Mario Borgatello, president of MarBorg, promised the City Council the same changeover for the Westside.

“You won’t notice a change in the service other than the color of the trucks coming up and down the street,” Borgatello said.

He also said that MarBorg can start servicing Santa Barbara’s Zone 2 as early as Aug. 1.

After the council granted the transfer, Kirk Braton, area president for Republic Services, Allied’s parent company, reached across the aisle to shake Borgatello’s hand.

“By all accounts, it has gone very well,” Braton said. “They’ve treated our employees with the utmost respect.”

The City Council also gave MarBorg 60 days to respond with an offer for hauling all of Santa Barbara’s solid waste starting in 2013. Councilman Dale Francisco said he was particularly interested in having MarBorg submit a new proposal, as it did recently for the county, which will save customers money.

“We would certainly be willing to give you a proposal and have you dissect it line by line,” Borgatello said.

With only one local hauler left to apply for the city’s franchise, staff recommended forming an ad hoc committee to advise and negotiate forming a new, unprecedented relationship.

Mayor Helene Schneider and Councilmen Randy Rowse and Dale Francisco volunteered to sit on the committee. Their main purpose will be to consult with the city’s waste management consultant, HF&H, about the terms of the 2013 franchise and MarBorg services.

Francisco also discussed the possibility of not opening the franchise to anyone but MarBorg if its offer is good. The city could then save up to $110,000 spent on HF&F to review applicants.

City Administrator Jim Armstrong cautioned against such an effort to save thousands of dollars on consulting for a franchise worth millions.

“What’s most important is … the staff and the council be certain that this is the best offer,” he said.

Ultimately, the City Council agreed to accept other applicants if the committee deemed MarBorg’s offer unsatisfactory.

— Noozhawk intern Daniel Langhorne can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.