Trash pickup elsewhere eyed

Winnipeg will review how other Canadian cities manage garbage and recycling collection as the city prepares to penalize Emterra for poor service.

Council's public works committee voted Tuesday in favour of a report to benchmark how other cities manage waste collection and what the options are for service. The report came on the heels of a call from councillors Harvey Smith (Daniel McIntyre) and Ross Eadie (Mynarski) to see whether collection services could be brought back under the control of Winnipeg's public service.

Public works chairman Coun. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface) said Winnipeg has already signed a five-year contract with Emterra and the city intends to respect the agreement. Starting Nov. 1, Vandal said the city will penalize Emterra $150 for every missed household pickup.

If the penalties do not result in an improvement in service, Vandal said the city will examine other alternatives outlined in the contract.

Mayor Sam Katz said last week he instructed city administration to review Winnipeg's legal options -- and possibly hand the service to another contractor -- if Emterra fails to collect waste on time at the end of its 30-day grace period.

City of Winnipeg officials said they will release more information on how the penalty process will work in the coming days.

"Our constituents need to see better service and I'm confident given more time we will see better service," Vandal said.

The city has been inundated with complaints over delays and missed pickups since 165,000 Winnipeg households switched from manual collection to automated garbage and recycling carts Oct. 1. Emterra started collecting garbage and recycling in the former autobin areas on Aug. 1 and the city has since levied penalties against the company for deficiencies in these neighbourhoods.

City water and waste director Diane Sacher told the committee Emterra has been struggling but has made improvements in the past two weeks. Sacher said the city penalized Emterra for its performance in the former autobin areas after the grace period ended Sept. 1, and the contractor is now close to providing the service it should be. "We're hoping the same thing will happen for the rest of the city," she said.

Eadie said problems have persisted in his ward and added the city is not saving money because its staff has worked a lot of overtime responding to complaints and ensuring Emterra has collected residents' trash.

CUPE Local 500 president Mike Davidson said Winnipeg should audit its waste collection to see whether it has saved money since Winnipeg started to completely contract the service out in 2005. Davidson said audits done in other cities, such as Ottawa, have found it costs taxpayers more to hire a private contractor and it's best to have waste collection split 50/50 between the public and private sector. He said some cities have brought their waste collection back in-house after the private contractor defaulted on its obligations.

Vandal said he has not seen Emterra's contract, but the city's administration and legal services will look at alternatives if deficiencies continue after Winnipeg has hit the contractor with penalties. "I think we're doing enough audits right now at the City of Winnipeg," he said.

The report on waste collection in other cities is expected to be complete in 90 days.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Illegal dumping

Council's public works committee approved a plan for city administration to review whether it's possible to amend a bylaw and raise fees for anyone caught dumping waste on public and private property. On Tuesday, William Whyte Resident Association member Annette Champion-Taylor told the committee illegal dumping has become an "epidemic" in the neighbourhood and residents worry abandoned waste could be set ablaze by arsonists.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 31, 2012 B1