The City of Revelstoke is looking at keeping garbage collection in-house after a request for proposal returned no cheaper options.
"The cost savings anticipated by contracting out garbage collection services were not realized through the Request for Proposals process," says a staff report by Mike Thomas, the city's director of engineering. "Continuing to provide an in-house service with collection occurring over four eight-hour days is the lowest cost option available."
Seven responses were received in response to the city's RFP for garbage collection services. One came from highway maintenance contractor Emcon, four came from Bresco services, which runs the recycling pickup, and the other was a proposal from the city's union to keep it in-house. Another proposal by Winkler Disposal Systems was rejected because it didn't meet the terms of the RFP.
All plans provide for pickup of one garbage bin per week, down from the current limit of two.
Revelstoke council is scheduled to make a decision on the contract on Tuesday, however it is the union's proposal that came in the cheapest, at a annual cost of $341,218, or $112.99 per household.
The union put forward a plan that would see garbage pickup happen from Tuesday to Friday, with Monday scheduled for truck maintenance. The rotating schedule would be scrapped and two employees would staff the truck.
Emcon offered an automated service that would cost $491,120. The system would use custom garbage bins that could be picked up automatically by the truck.
Bresco provided four options. The first was for manual collection, similar to the current system, at a cost of $462,853.
The second was for automated collection with standard bins at a cost of $693,701.
The third was for automated collection with bear-proof bins at a cost of $759,658.
The final proposal was for an alternative manual collection that would involve Bresco paying the tipping fees. The cost to the city would be $389,254, or $128.89 per household.
All of Bresco's proposals involve increasing the fee for extra garbage bags to $10 from $2. The union proposal keeps the tag fee at $2.
Under the current financial plan, garbage costs $110 per household this year and is set to go up to $119 per household in 2019.
The request for proposal was prompted by the city's need to replace its garbage truck and a belief that contracting out the service would lead to lower costs.
Thomas said all bids reflect the costs of labour, leasing a truck, insurance, administration and tipping fees.
If council opts for the in-house option, the city would begin the process of purchasing a new garbage truck by the end of this year.