CARSTAIRS-DIDSBURY - Two member municipalities of the region’s waste management commission are asking that options for the future of the commission and its assets be provided within half a year.
In letters sent to the commission last month, Town of Didsbury and Town of Carstairs municipal officials asked that options for disposal of Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission assets be provided back to commission members within six months.
They also asked that options be provided for the successful financial and operational management of the MVRWMC within the same time frame.
"We need to be confident that the costs we incur to support and be part of commissions are the best and most cost-effective for our taxpayers and residents in providing these services in our community," said Didsbury mayor Rhonda Hunter. "We were updated in July by the commission that they projected a $364,000 deficit for 2018 and that they were not sustainable as they were operating at the time."
If it comes to fruition, 2018 would be the third consecutive year the commission has run a deficit.
Formed in 2001, the commission operates one landfill and several transfer and recycling sites. Members include the municipalities of Didsbury, Carstairs, Cremona, Sundre, Olds and Mountain View County with each providing one council member as a representative on the commission.
Hunter said that each council works to represent the best interests of the taxpayers and residents.
"Solutions have to be solid that do not further burden our residents financially, and these solutions need to come sooner rather than later."
The future of the commission was discussed during a mayors and reeve meeting held during an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention in Red Deer on Sept. 27.
Carstairs mayor Lance Colby said he organized the meeting because he feels it's important to discuss the issues with the waste commission.
"I think it's something we always need to look at," said Colby. "We review our town stuff all the time to see if we're functioning the best we can and we look at ways we can improve how we operate. I felt we needed to sit down. We can't tell them what to do, we can only talk to them about it. That was the whole point: to send (a letter) to them that we want a review."
Colby said it's up to the commission itself to decide how to run its business.
"I think it's a good idea to review what we do and how we do business," he said. "Is there a better way of doing it? And a more cost effective way for our residents?"
Colby said it was up to each municipality to decide whether to send a letter to the waste commission supporting the three-point directive.
"Each council has to make a decision whether they want to send something requesting that (MVRWMC) look into: are they sustainable? Are there alternatives for waste management?" he said. "The mayor had to bring it to their respective councils and decide what they'd like, and then it goes from us to the commission to decide how they want to act on what we'd like them to look at. We can't direct them. We can't tell them what to do."
Mary Anne Overwater, chair of the MVRWMC and a councillor in Olds, acknowledged receiving letters from both Carstairs and Didsbury.
"Those were two letters that were sent from those two communities," said Overwater. "I have talked to a couple of other mayors, my mayor, Michael Muzychka (Olds), and Terry Leslie (Sundre) and I've talked to the county and in their opinion that was not the directive. They talked about the commission, but in their opinion there was no consensus, no directive from all the mayors and reeve to send a letter to the commission."
Overwater said she talked with the Carstairs mayor and advised him that the commission has hired a new chief administrative officer and a new chief financial officer.
She added "that these communities need to give us an opportunity for our new administration to look over everything and see where we are, what is our focus in the future."
Overwater said the commission will continue operating as usual.
"We're status quo," she said. "We'll operate the commission as efficiently as we can. Our new administration staff will be going over every aspect of the commission. We will then be giving a report to MAP (municipal area partnership) as to what the commission feels is the right direction. We have to ask the communities what the direction is; what they want us to do."
Overwater said they need to know if the communities still want the MVRWMC to continue operating the landfills and the recycling centres.
"Those are big questions," she said. "Like I said, we have a new administration, we have to give them time to go over everything and get used to all the moving parts in a landfill, transfer station and recycling stations. We'll report some time probably in the spring. We'll get back to the municipalities with what these guys come up with. We can go from there."
Earlier this year, the councils of three member municipalities — Sundre, Carstairs and Cremona — made motions to work towards the total sale of all the commission’s assets and liabilities, including the landfill near Didsbury.
