The CVRD staff and Electoral Area Directors understood from the 2013 referendum results on rural roadside garbage collection that our community values small, local operators. From the very beginning of considering this initiative again, we have prioritized these lessons learned from the previous referendum. We have made changes to the process and the procurement of the service to give every business, large or small, an ability to compete on an even footing for this work.
Here are a few changes that the CVRD has committed to making in the procurement process for the waste collection contract(s), if one or more of the proposed waste collection services move forward:
- Service areas
- The service area will be split up into multiple geographic areas (Northern, Central and Southern Collection Services).
- The CVRD reserves the right to award to one or more haulers, and will ask proponents to submit a proposal for each of the service areas individually. This will allow haulers to choose whether they want to submit for all service areas or just one.
- Tipping fees
- Recyclables – The CVRD will contract for the receiving and processing of recyclables separately. This means that a hauler will drop off their recycling at no cost to them, the CVRD will be billed directly from the processor for the tipping fee to drop off recycling (this cost is included in the utility fee to residents). The intention of this is to ensure the hauler will not be subject to the financial risk of global commodities pricing for recyclable materials, nor the increasing tipping rates for dropping off recycling.
- Garbage – The CVRD will not require the hauler to pay the waste tipping fee at the landfill. The cost of the waste will be tracked and billed directly to the CVRD, and will already be included within the $200-$250 per year service fee residents will pay for this service, should the service be established. The hauler will not be subject to any increase in tipping fees for landfilled waste over the duration of the service contract.
- Selection criteria
- The contract for hauling will not be based purely on the lowest price. The CVRD understands that customer service is important to our residents, as it is to us, and this will be a defining criteria in our selection process. We will use the reputation and references of companies to determine if they have met the needs of their customers in providing these services in the past.
We have been encouraging of all companies, big or small, to participate in our procurement process if one or more of the proposed waste collection services move forward, and have directly communicated with all companies operating locally.
More Information on the Proposed Rural Roadside Collection Service