With its waste collection contract set to expire in just over a year, the City of Armstrong is looking for recommendations from staff and the public surrounding waste and organic disposal, and commercial waste collection.
The current contract expires April 30, 2021, and is one of the more financially significant contracts which requires a request for proposal of services.
“Staff is planning to issue the request for this service in summer 2020 in order to ensure that tenders can be evaluated properly and there is time to communicate any resulting changes in service to residents,” wrote chief financial officer Janene Felker and community services manager Warren Smith in a four-page report to council.
What needs to be addressed by council is residential and commercial service, strata and large bin service and a waste management bylaw.
Staff has suggested a composting service could be provided as a combination of organic and yard waste. Residents would use one tote for everything, and that tote would be picked up weekly and deposited at Spa Hills in Salmon Arm.
The city could also look at moving to standardized bins.
“Service providers are preferring this option as it allows for automated pickup and decreases staff safety concerns,” read the report. The cost of the bins would be incorporated into the monthly cost of the contract.
The Village of Lumby and Cities of Vernon and Salmon Arm have been exploring residential composting programs.
Waste services in Armstrong are not provided by the city to commercial properties. A 2019 survey conducted by the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce identified only 34 businesses in the city that would consider taking part in a waste collection program.
Waste collection service could be provided weekly for small commercial businesses in which the city would be responsible for the billing and coordinating the participating commercial businesses. The service would, like current residential waste service, be based on a two tote/bag limit.
The city currently provides waste collection to all strata complexes and apartments except the mobile home park, the Green Valley complexes and Pioneer Square.
The City of Armstrong currently does not have a waste management bylaw. The previous bylaw was repealed in March 2016 and a new bylaw was never established.
“Not having a bylaw opens the city to a multiple of issue,” said the report. “There are no guidelines for service, no enforcement ability, and it may create liabilities for the city. A new Waste Management Bylaw will provide a clear
direction and outline of the services that the city will and will not provide.”
As solid waste is a regional topic, a draft bylaw would be forwarded to the Regional District of North Okanagan for review.
The city would like to hear from the public their thoughts, suggestions and recommendations. Any such comment can be sent to info@cityofarmstrong.bc.ca.
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