Sundre wants to be at the table as Mountain View County investigates waste hauling options.
Mayor Terry Leslie and Linda Nelson, Sundre’s chief administrative officer, attended Mountain View County council’s Nov. 7 meeting in support of a Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society presentation. They were invited to remain for an introductory discussion between Waste Connections Inc. and county officials, said Nelson.
“It may be advantageous for the Town of Sundre to make a formal request to Mountain View County to be part of future discussions between the county and Waste Connections Inc. to gain a better understanding of future opportunities for collaboration and partnerships that would benefit our communities,” she said, seeking council’s direction to draft a letter to the county requesting permission to join future discussions.
Coun. Rob Wolfe motioned to that effect, initiating a discussion.
Coun. Cheri Funke wondered whether additional details about the Nov. 7 discussion between the county and the company were available.
“It was just an introduction into their business, what they have offered other communities,” said Nelson.
“They are all over the U.S., all over Canada from east to west, offering waste management services. They also offer incentives,” she said, adding those incentives were not discussed in great detail.
“But some of them could be no tipping fees to their customers,” she said.
“The reason that we wanted to be more involved in these meetings is that we don’t have all of the information.”
The Town of Olds already contracts Waste Connections Inc. for residential rollout bin collection.
The mayor, who joined the meeting by phone, said council has clearly expressed concerns about the escalating costs for the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission fees coming forward.
“This gives us an opportunity to look at other options,” he said, adding the company would not be restricted to taking only waste and recyclables from the local region but would rather be seeking to tap into a broader market in Central Alberta.
“They would not be hampered by small economies of scale as our waste commission is.”
Although premature to speculate specifically what could potentially be on the table at this point, the mayor spoke in favour of the motion, which would open the door to pursue the opportunity to examine other options that could yield less cost-prohibitive alternatives for residents.
Coun. Todd Dalke said the letter should be rewritten to ask about collaborating in the process as opposed to just being part of the discussions between the county and the company, which Nelson said could certainly be accommodated.
Council carried Wolfe’s motion unopposed.
