I would like to comment on the City of St. Albert’s new proposed waste collection changes to be implemented in 2011.
For a number of reasons, this new “system” is seriously flawed from the outset. It is nothing more or less than another prime example of more environmental social engineering that is to be foisted on the taxpayers of St. Albert by an overzealous city administration whose environmental department clearly has its own agenda. Why is this new “system” doomed to failure before it even starts?
Aesthetics are very important to the people of St. Albert. Just take a look around at our neighbourhoods, with many beautifully manicured properties, boulevards, etc. Are the majority of people going to go to the effort and take the time to separate their garbage into household garbage and organic waste and put them in two separate toters, especially those people who already have composters, garburators or make regular visits to either St. Albert’s recycle facility in Campbell Park or the compost recycle facility on Villeneuve Road? I seriously doubt it. I would venture a guess that 10 per cent of residents, or less will take the time to separate their household garbage into two different toters. The consequence is that you are now going to have household garbage sitting on boulevards rotting and stinking to high heaven for two-week intervals until the next household garbage pick-up. Are people going to store this rotting, stinking garbage in their houses, garages or sheds for two weeks? I don’t think so. What about young families with disposable diapers? What a pleasant sight and aroma that is sure to provide wafting all over the City of St. Albert. Not to mention the maggots and other undesirable pests this will attract and the mess they are sure to make. It’s a good thing we don’t have rats here in Alberta, or do we? This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “beautify St. Albert” with two big toters full of stinking, rotting garbage adorning the boulevards in front of each and every home. So, from a simply aesthetic perspective, because the vast majority of residents care about how our city looks and smells, this system will not fly (pun intended) here in St. Albert.
Secondly, there are significant costs involved for the city to purchase a new fleet of garbage trucks with specially designed mechanical arms to pick up the wheeled carts residents leave at the curbside — $1.3 million to be exact. That’s a pretty significant property tax hit. In addition, there’s the cost of the toters themselves, which are designated to be house specific; that is, when you move, the toters don’t move with you, but remain with the house they were assigned (at least in theory). Of course, many of the toters will disappear and will have to be replaced by the city at taxpayers’ expense. I won’t even get into the fact that the trucks with the mechanical arms need a perfectly level surface in order to function properly. How is this going to work in the winter when there’s a foot of packed snow on our residential streets and ruts that are six inches deep like there are right now? Furthermore, where are you going to put your toters when there’s four or five feet of snow piled up on the boulevards? On the roof of your house?
Now, I know city administration will make the argument that the cost of the new garbage trucks and toters will be included in the estimated $5.77 per month cost for residential organics pick-up. The fact is that city administration doesn’t have a clue as to what the actual cost of this “service” is and is just taking an educated guess. That is why they are hedging their bets in terms of costs and saying “the actual costs could vary slightly up or down,” so that they can increase the monthly cost to residents should their “guess” prove to be wrong, which it most inevitably is. Furthermore, in recent memory have you ever seen the cost of any utility, which garbage collection really is, go down? Everybody knows as well as I do that once such a fee is imposed on residents, we’re stuck with it for life. Not only that, but it just keeps going up in cost.
This brings up the discussion of overall costs for garbage collection in St. Albert. Since approximately 50 per cent of garbage collection in St. Albert is presently contracted out, it’s about high time city administration did their jobs properly and determined what the costs would be to contract out garbage collection for the entire city. I know the City of St. Albert CUPE local will be beside itself about this suggestion, but contracting out of services, particularly municipal services, is a fact of life in the 21st century, especially if the contractor can provide a more efficient and less costly service.
Immediate savings would include the cost of a fleet of new garbage trucks with specially-designed mechanical arms ($1.3 million), the cost of the toters themselves (and replacement toters) and the wages (and annual wage increases) and benefits the city pays to the workers who presently perform this service on our behalf. Of course, this is not very likely to happen here in St. Albert because it flies directly in the face of city administration’s agenda of “empire building.” I would be willing to bet that any mayor or councillor who asks this very legitimate question of administration will simply be stonewalled or given an unsatisfactory answer. It is something that city administration does not want to do and my experience with city administration is that when they don’t want to do something, by gosh they just plain and simply don’t do it.
So let’s call a spade a shovel and not hide behind the supposed efficiencies and rationalizations for this wonderful new system as espoused by city administration. When it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, why don’t we call it exactly what it is for a change — more environmental social engineering foisted on the residents of St. Albert by a city administration with an agenda.
Jim Starko, St. Albert
