The new chief administrative officer of the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission (MVRWMC) says he will be putting together a plan to win back the Town of Didsbury's and Town of Carstairs' business.
The councils of each of those communities voted in April to move away from the MVRWMC as their collection service and instead go with a private firm, Can-Pak Environmental to do the job.
“I would like to have a plan and then have that plan instituted as quickly as possible after we've had the board look at it. I think that's very important that we get our own communities back in our commission, so I look forward to (implementing) that as quickly as we get the support (from the MVRWMC board) to move forward with it,” said Al Graham, the commission's CAO, adding that he also wants both communities to begin using the commission as their recycling provider as well.
Graham said he wants communities within the Mountain View County area to see the commission as a great service provider, and thinks a solid partnership could develop in the future between municipalities and the commission once the commission demonstrates its commitment to service.
Lance Colby, mayor of Carstairs, said council would have to see what the plan is before moving forward. He said council decided to terminate the service with the commission because Can-Pak was less costly and more efficient.
“We went with (Can-Pak) because we felt it was more beneficial and better for people here cost-wise and efficiency-wise for picking up not only recycling but regular garbage,” said Colby.
“It was a big decision in the first place pulling out (of commission service provision).”
Colby said Carstairs took out the recycling bins from the town recycling centre and replaced them with Can-Pak picking up recycling at the curb every week. The company picks up garbage every two weeks.
“So that's even better for us. It keeps things cleaner,” he said.
Brian Wittal, mayor of Didsbury, said when Didsbury council made the decision to go with Can-Pak, it did so based on a tendering process in which the MVRWMC was not the most competitive bid.
“When we did that and had tenders come back to us, one of those was Mountain View Waste Management as well. We looked at it strictly from services they were willing to provide us, and cost. At the end of the day I'm looking for the services our residents want and the cost it's going to be provided for, and unfortunately in those …tenders, they weren't very close, cost-wise,” said Wittal.
He said he hopes with Graham on board, the commission can be price competitive.
Can-Pak signed a three-year contract with Didsbury to provide garbage and compost pickup as well as curbside recycling services at $20.33 per household per month.
In contrast, the previous contract with MVRWMC provided garbage and compost pickup only, for the same $20.33 per household, per month.
Can-Pak also signed a three-year contract with Carstairs at a cost of $75,000 per year to the town for garbage and recycling. Under the commission the town was paying $251,000 per year for garbage pickup only.
With the closing of the recycling centres in Didsbury and Carstairs, commission board members voted to have Graham speak with Tony Martens, CAO of Mountain View County, about possibly placing recycling bins at the county office to allow rural county residents near those two communities the opportunity to recycle.
“I'll have conversations with the CAO in regards to what we need to do in regards to maybe help provide that service,” Graham said.
He will also undertake a review of the fleet with the manufacturer of the commission's vehicles, Superior Truck Body of Calgary.
Graham said he would like a company technician to look at each vehicle's hydraulic system and other components to ensure they are in good working order.
The commission would like to work with Superior Truck on an ongoing basis so that the company can do regular maintenance on the vehicles and keep them in good working order before a costly repair is needed, he said.
"I think that's very important that we get our own communities back in our commission."Al Graham, CAO, MVRWMC
