Major changes in waste and recyclables collection are moving forward at North Battleford City Hall.
Proposals to end the problem-plagued communal bins, and to replace that program with collection from both residential garbage rollout carts and from mandatory recycling, have advanced beyond the committee stage and will go before city council for discussion Monday, Nov. 25.
The issue was front and centre at Monday's municipal services meeting, where councillors spent over an hour and a half discussing results of the recent request for proposals issued by the City's Public Works Department.
The committee ultimately voted to recommend to council that 4,752 solid waste roll-out carts be purchased from Superior Truck Equipment Inc. of Calgary, Alta. for $63 per cart plus taxes, and that a bi-weekly residential solid pickup schedule with K and B Construction be approved.
Also heading to council is a second recommendation that Ever Green Ecological Services Inc. be contracted to implement a residential recycling collection and processing system.
The committee's recommendations, approved unanimously Monday, are simply a first step in moving the issue forward to council for full discussion. City council must ultimately vote on those recommendations before they come into effect.
Still to be decided by council is what the new method of garbage and recycling collection will entail, with councillors seeking more information on the recycling issue and how those materials will be collected.
One option council must consider is whether to go with roll-out carts or "blue bins," but a second, less expensive option is being offered where recyclables are collected through the use of translucent blue bags that can be purchased by customers at area stores.
Ever Green has proposed bi-weekly blue bag residential recycling collection and processing can be done for an annual cost of $296,412 plus taxes. The "blue bag" option was recommended by city administration as the most economical.
However, concern was raised by councillors that local residents may not get on board with recycling if blue bags were used city wide.
Councillor Trent Houk noted not everyone was buying in to a similar setup in Yorkton, with many households opting to throw recyclable items in the trash instead. He leaned towards blue bins.
"To me, at the end of the day, making somebody have a bin, a blue bin in their driveway, with the garbage bin, is going to force households to be absolutely more responsible," said Houk.
At one point, Councillor Don Buglas remarked he actually would prefer keeping the blue rollout carts he currently uses. That prompted a wide-ranging discussion on whether residents might possibly be permitted to "opt out" of a city blue-bag collection scheme in favor of a separately-run blue cart collection.
There would be a higher cost if the City were to go with bi-weekly blue bin collection in North Battleford. Residents would be paying $2.74/residence/month for the blue roll-out carts instead of $2.49/residence/month for the blue bag collection. As well, there is also the cost of purchasing 4,900 rollout carts from Ever Green, pegged at $341,040 plus taxes.
Nearest rival bidder Loraas Environmental Services Ltd. had offered a price of $359,562.00 plus taxes for the blue bins; they also offered a price of $4.95/residence/month for biweekly collection.
In any event, the debate on the type of recycling collection the city will go with will now go to council for discussion.
At the moment, city administration is leaning towards a bi-weekly pickup for both garbage and for recycling collection, with garbage to be picked up one week and recyclables the next.
City Public Works Director Stewart Schafer noted other cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Markham and Moose Jaw have gone to bi-weekly to reduce collection costs and encourage diversion of recyclable material from the landfill.
A Nov. 14 memorandum from Schafer and from Asset Manager Arthur Smith outlined what the cost would be for rollout garbage bins.
The total cost for the purchase of 4,752 rollout carts from Superior Truck Equipment Inc. would be $299,376 plus taxes, and would be paid through unappropriated general reserve funds.
The plan would be for K & B Construction to continue household solid waste pickup. The option proposed by K & B and recommended by city administration is for the collection rate to increase from $5.38/month/residence to $6.75/month/residence.
City administration went with this option, Schafer told the committee, because it will be "forcing some people to actually sit down and say 'I have to start recycling and not just throw it away.'"
While the collection rate is proposed to go up to $6.75/month/residential unit under the proposal, administration is proposing the actual utility rate customers will see for garbage collection would remain at $9 per month, but with an added $1 per month charge for cart replacement, for a total of $10.
Some concern was raised about whether city residents could handle bi-weekly collection. However, it was pointed out by officials that bi-weekly garbage pickup would work as long as it goes hand in hand with bi-weekly recycling pickup as well.
Schafer noted his own household contracts for a rollout blue bin in addition to garbage collection. "It is amazing how much garbage we no longer throw out but are recycling," he said.
As for recycling, administration has proposed maintaining the $6/month/residential unit charge, but that is assuming council opts for blue bag recycling. If rollout carts are chosen instead, these rates will require adjustment, states administration.
A number of questions were raised at the meeting Monday, with Houk wondering about some of the other proposals that didn't make the cut. Schafer said many of those other options didn't fit into the terms of the New West Partnership Agreement, which administration is bound by.
Some other proposals submitted simply weren't cost-effective enough. The city had received eight proposals back on the RFP for garbage collection and four proposals from three firms on the RFP for recycling collection and processing.
Councillors made clear their desire to move carefully on the issue.
"I certainly want this rolled out but I think we need to do a little more tweaking," said Houk, who made known his desire for more information.
The issue of changing garbage collection and moving to mandatory recycling have revived as a topic at City Hall in recent months in response to the longstanding issues the City has seen with the current communal bins in use throughout much of the city.
The biggest issue has been abuse of the large bins, with residents and non-residents dumping furniture, appliances and other inappropriate items into them.
The City is claiming the practice is costing them revenue. Estimates provided to council in September have the city losing annual revenue of between $100,000 and $300,000 with the communal bins in use.
The current recycling bins at various locations in the city have seen numerous inappropriate items collected there as well, adding to the costs.
Much more information on the proposed changes is expected to come out over the next several days and weeks. City administration plans a multifaceted communication plan including newspaper ads and other material so the public is informed of the changes. A news release has been issued by the City this week on the subject.
"There will be a pile of public notice," Schafer pledged, particularly with respect to what can and cannot be placed in the new bins.
Councillors agreed, with Houk noting he wanted to see a "huge information blitz" to take place.
