Sundre council recently voted unanimously to withdraw membership in the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission (MVRWMC) over financial concerns.
Through an annual requisition to the town, Sundre residents are currently paying $17.50 a month for the commission's services, but the commission's requisition to the town will increase to $25 in 2015.
The commission is facing a deficit and has increased its requisitions to all of its member municipalities to recoup losses incurred over the last few years. According to officials, the anticipated operating deficit for the commission for 2014 is $1,300,000.
The commission is managed by a board of directors who are appointed each year by the respective municipal councils. The member municipalities consist of Olds, Sundre, Carstairs, Didsbury, Cremona and Mountain View County.
Sundre council has joined the Town of Carstairs, Town of Didsbury and Village of Cremona councils in serving a one-year notice to withdraw from the commission.
“We represent our residents. We need to protect them,” Sundre Coun. Paul Isaac said during the Dec. 15 council meeting.
Before making the decision to withdraw from the commission, Coun. Chris Vardas questioned if staying with the commission and paying the increase would fix the commission's problems.
Dave Dubauskas, the town's chief administrative officer, said he is not satisfied the commission has a plan in place and recommended council withdraw from the commission.
Council also adjusted the recently passed 2015 and 2016 budgets during the meeting because of the unexpected increase. The budgets were passed on Dec. 1, but it wasn't until Dec. 4 that Town of Sundre officials were notified of the increase to the requisition, during an all-council meeting in Olds.
And although Sundre council voted to withdraw from the commission, residents are still required to pay the requisition for the year of 2015, because the town is required to provide a one-year notice to withdraw from the commission.
Coun. Myron Thompson asked Dubauskas what to tell taxpayers when they ask about the increase. Dubauskas said the town is required to pay it and is not happy with it, and is looking into other options.
“The commission has imposed an unreasonable 300 per cent increase in per capita requisition for the 2015 budget year resulting in a 43 per cent increase in monthly fees to Town of Sundre residents in 2015,” Dubauskas reported to council.
Administration officials would like to explore other options for future waste services and receive bids from private providers. It was noted the withdrawal process could require legal advice in the range of $10,000.
If Sundre council did not pass a motion to withdraw from the commission during last week's meeting – which was the last meeting of 2014 – it would have to stay with the commission for the next two years. The commission requires a one-year notice to withdraw and the effective date of withdrawal may only be Dec. 31 of any year.
However, the town can retract its withdrawal at any time during the next year.
“If we're seeing in summer, early fall that the commission is on track, well then that's a choice we have of going with the commission and using them, or we may have other choices,” he said.
Some member municipalities are requesting independent audits for 2014 financials, but the Town of Sundre is not.
“An audit in my mind isn't the answer to the waste commission's problems. It's a managerial issue that they've got there,” he said. “How is it that management allowed the commission to get to this state?”
He believes the commission needs a chief administrative officer with experience in the industry, who has worked with municipalities and knows how commissions work.
“The sad part is they just had a management review done that said everything's great. I looked at that last fall and I wasn't pleased with that study because it really didn't address what I was starting to percolate at that time, some issues.”
According to officials, a Regional Solid Waste Management Authority was formed in 1991.
“The management authority was unable to meet its financial obligations and required a financial bailout from the member municipalities,” Dubauskas reported to council.
“The reorganization lead to the formation of the MVRWMC on Feb. 26, 2001. Each member municipality was required to maintain its membership for a period of 10 years to ensure the debt repayment was completed.”
Sundre has been a part of the commission since its inception in 2001.
“The commission has had high staff turnover at the senior level for a number of years. This state has resulted in poor management decisions and has brought the commission to the state of where it is today,” he said.
Mary Anne Overwater, chair of the MVRWMC, expressed disappointment after finding out three of the six member municipalities are withdrawing from the commission.
“The commission is disappointed that after our meeting on Dec. 4, the Town of Didsbury, Carstairs and Sundre could not wait until our standing finance committee meeting Dec. 17 and our board meeting of Dec. 22 to review all comments that came forward to the board to make your final decision of withdrawal,” Overwater recently wrote in a letter addressed to the mayors of Sundre, Carstairs and Didsbury.
