Forty-one Calgary communities are part of a potential private black cart collection pilot project, now posted in a request for proposal, with a scheduled roll out in 2022.
The city moved ahead with a pilot project after discussion at the Utilities and Corporate Services committee meeting in April of this year. It was later approved at council.
The communities listed in the request for proposal are predominantly in the city’s NW and SW. They stretch from Evanston in the north to Cresmont on the city’s west edge, down to Strathcona and Aspen Woods on the border of Glenmore Trail in the south.
The contract term is for seven years, with an option for another two-year extension, not to exceed nine years. Also, according to the city purchase documents, the price per customer, per year can’t exceed $40.
Here are the communities included under the potential pilot project contract:
- Ambleton
- Arbour Lake
- Aspen Woods
- Beddington Heights
- Bowness
- Christie Park
- Citadel
- Coach Hill
- Cougar Ridge
- Crestmont
- Dalhousie
- Discovery Ridge
- Edgemont
- Evanston
- Glacier Ridge
- Greenwood/Greenbriar
- Hamptons
- Haskayne
- Hawkwood
- Hidden Valley
- Kincora
- MacEwan Glen
- Medicine Hill
- Nolan Hill
- Panorama Hills
- Patterson
- Ranchlands
- Rocky Ridge
- Royal Oak
- Sage Hill
- Sandstone Valley
- Scenic Acres
- Sherwood
- Silver Springs
- Springbank Hill
- Strathcona Park
- Symons Valley Ranch
- Tuscany
- Valley Ridge
- Varsity
- West Springs
Roughly 88,000 homes will be a part of the private collection, according to the city.
‘I don’t see the motivation for this’: Coun. Farrell
During the original committee debate, city administration told the committee that based on the information they had, minimal savings would be realized.
Coun. Druh Farrell said, at the time, that because of this, a pilot project wasn’t worth it.
“I don’t see the motivation for this, this system isn’t broken. It’s a high quality system and we deliver high quality service to Calgarians with citizen satisfaction,” she said.
“It won’t save money or very little amount of money if at all. The workers may be paid less – likely they will be paid less – which means less local spending and profits may or may not go outside of Calgary.”
Others saw it as an opportunity to experiment and potentially innovate. Coun. George Chahal said during that debate, that he did share some of Coun. Farrell’s concerns, but he said going through the process could help the city in the long term, regardless of the outcome.
“I think it’s important that we take a look at the opportunities available in the marketplace,” he said.
“I think this will also help, internally, our processes, and then help us innovate and get better at what we do. Our employees do a tremendous job and we need to continue to make sure that they can do that moving forward but we also have to innovate and think about other ways to do some of the work we do.”
The RFP closes Oct. 19. The city said they hope to make a decision on awarding the project in Q1, 2021. The pilot project would roll out in Q1 2022, the city said.
