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COUNCIL BRIEFS: City of Castlegar’s waste collection costs increase

Council weighs increase in garbage costs, a wind phone and earthquake support
32099458_web1_210820-POI-Waste-Management
Prices increase in new contract with Waste Management. File photo

by Chelsea Novak

City council approves month-to-month agreement with Waste Management, balks at higher prices

Castlegar City Council approved extending its agreement for garbage, recycling and yard waste pickup with Waste Management of Canada on a month-to-month basis at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, March 6.

The month-to-month agreement is an interim solution until the city’s curbside organics collection program goes into effect later this year.

The prices in this new agreement are higher than in the city’s previous agreement with Waste Management, with a $3.66 increase per household per month. Based on the 3,315 eligible properties that were receiving garbage and recycling services under the previous agreement, that adds $12,133 per month to the city’s bill.

Chris Hallam, director of municipal services, explained the increase.

“This is to account for the fact that the two-per-cent annual increase for inflation allowed for in the agreement did not keep pace with the actual rate of inflation over the seven-year term of the agreement,” he said. “And also, to account for the fact that Waste Management had to add a second truck to their operations to maintain service levels for the collection of the recyclable materials as volumes have increased over the years as people got better at recycling.”

Hallam added that the new pricing was in keeping with industry standards.

Mayor Maria McFaddin asked if the extra $12,133 monthly cost had been accounted for in the city’s budget and Ola Oladele, director of financial services, informed council that it had not yet been added to the budget as it’s still unknown how long the month-to-month arrangement will last.

In response to the increase in cost, Councillor Sandy Bojechko asked if it would be worth it to put out a request for proposals (RFP) to find a new service provider.

Hallam responded by saying that an RFP is already in the works for collection that will include the organics. He did not recommend putting out an RFP for what staff estimates will be a four-month interim. Hallam added that he did not think Waste Management would be open to negotiating further on the prices.

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Hospice society requests wind phone in Millennium Park

Suzanne Lehbauer, executive director of the Castlegar Hospice Society, gave council an update on hospice care in Castlegar, explaining that over the last couple of years, demand for grief and bereavement services has increased over 500 per cent.

She also told council that pre-COVID private donations made up 13 per cent of the organization’s already low budget, and with the impact of inflation she has seen those donations decrease.

“All non-profits are seeing that,” she said. “Times are tough; groceries are through the roof, so something has to suffer somewhere.”

Fundraising was also impacted as events had to be cancelled and the organization was required to make certain changes, like replacing all cloth upholstered furniture with something easier to disinfect, to meet safety regulations in healthcare. These changes represented a significant cost to the organization.

In addition to the update, Lehbauer asked permission to install a wind phone in Millennium Park. The wind phone was originally created by Itaru Sasaki, who placed an old phone booth in his garden as way to grieve his cousin’s death.

“Because my thoughts couldn’t be relayed over a regular phone line,” Sasaki told a Japanese TV crew from NHK Sendai. “I wanted them to be carried on the wind.”

When the 2011 tsunami claimed the lives of so many of his neighbours in Otsuchi, Japan, Sasaki opened the phone up to the public, and the idea has since spawned wind phones around the world.

Lehbauer explained that she and her son wished to donate the plaque in memory of her late mother, as well as the phone and that a local service club would provide the wood backing for the phone.

“When I first saw the wind phone I thought, ‘How can something so simplistic mean so much?’ but after reading remarks from people all over the world who have just picked up that receiver and said a few words, it really is amazing that something so simple can mean so much.”

Lehbauer hopes the wind phone could be unveiled during the annual Hike for Hospice on Sunday, May 7.

Mayor McFaddin requested that Lehbauer send the ask to council in a detailed email for further consideration. Council also requested that Lehbauer include pricing information for a full phone booth, rather than just a phone mounted on a plaque, as many councillors considered it a more aesthetically pleasing option.

Council votes against donation to Turkey and Syria

Council voted against donating $4,000 to Canadian Red Cross for Turkey and Syria following the recent earthquake.

Councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff was one of the councillors opposed to the donation. She said that with so many cuts to the city’s budget, she thought it best to keep the city’s money in the local area.

“I would encourage individuals, if they would like to support it, to donate directly to the Red Cross,” she said.

Councillor Brian Bogle added to Heaton-Sherstobitoff’s argument, pointing out that sending aid to other countries is outside a municipal government’s mandate.

While Councillor Shirley Falstead spoke in support of the donation and made a motion to draw money from the community enhancement fund, the motion was ultimately defeated.



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