The union representing municipal workers in Revelstoke is disappointed with Council’s rejection of a report by its own staff recommending the City keep curbside garbage collection public.
During its meeting on Tuesday, October 13, Council voted against staff report from Engineering and Development Services Director Mike Thomas that concluded in-house curbside garbage collection was the most affordable option. The report considered proposals from three private companies as well as the current in-house service staffed by CUPE members. The private companies were:
- Winkler Disposal Systems 2014;
- Bresco Industries Ltd.; and
- Emcon Services Inc.
“The cost savings anticipated by contracting out garbage collection services were not realized through the Request for Proposals process,” Thomas said in the staff-generated report. ‘Continuing to provide an in-house service with collection occurring over four eight-hour days is the lowest cost option available.”
Please click here to read why the private options were considered problematic.
CUPE Local 363 president Chris Selvig expressed surprise at Council’s rejection of the report.
“We took this review process very seriously and were open to discussing ways to improve service and adapt to the changing needs of Revelstoke residents,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“City staff took a close look at the current service in preparing its report and we were confident Council would choose the best option. In-house curbside garbage collection is clearly the responsible choice – the most economical, responsive and most accountable to taxpayers.”
The union said the vote leaves it unclear what will happen now, but that CUPE 363 will be contacting Revelstoke City Council for assurances that any further review process remains open and accountable.
Activate the YouTube player below to see how Council handled this matter. Discussion of the garbage collection issue begins at about the 48:50 mark.
