Operating the City of Melville’s Landfill will continue to be contracted out.
On Monday, Melville City Council approved a recommendation to enter into negotiations for 2-year extension with Better Call Cleaning at a cost of $260-thousand per year.
The proposal from Better Call Cleaning was one of 4 others including one from the City itself. Acting City Manager Chris Bruce noted 3 proposals were over budget and not considered.
The current deal with Better Call Cleaning, which has operated the landfill for the last 17 years, is set to expire December 31st of this year.
Bruce says its to ensure the company can continue operating the landfill through a permit to operate, which is the guidelines they operate their landfill to, to ensure they meet Ministry of Environment standards.
In Bruce’s report to City Council, he notes by contracting Better Call Cleaning for another two years “the City of Melville can utilize the time as training opportunities to learn the best practices of the contractor so that in two years the City of Melville will have a much stronger grasp of operational standards and a much higher likelihood of successfully providing the service internally. This would be an important part of the educational provision ensuring we continue to meet the operational expectation of the Ministry of Environment.”
“Finally that is in place,” said Melville Mayor Walter Streelasky of the contract extension being dealt with.
Streelasky also says its a lot of weight off their chest because there has been a lot going on with the landfill expansion and some key people associated with the project leaving City Hall.
“But we’re now trying to work as feverishly as we can to bring everything up to speed and I think we are now okay in that regard.” Streelasky added.
“Still, we have a whole half-year or more on the landfill before it reaches its completed state.”