Garbage collection cost to rise without Stephenville's support: Joint council chair

The chair of the Southwest Coast Joint Council said he and other council members were stunned recently when they learned the Town of Stephenville chose to opt out of a regional plan to pick up curbside garbage.

The plan, which was tendered at a cost of $57 per household in Bay St. George, including Stephenville, was discussed at a recent meeting of the council in Ramea.

"All user groups - the intention was all user groups would be in it together," said Fintan Alexander, council chair and Mayor of the Town of St. George's.

"[Stephenville] Deputy Mayor [Mike] Tobin informed us they would be going it on their own," he said. "They felt they could do it much cheaper."

Mayor Alexander said those at the joint council table, including representatives from communities on the Port au Port Peninsula and Bay St. George South, felt Stephenville's decision to opt out of the plan was unacceptable as it would increase the plan's costs up for smaller municipalities and local service districts.

"Stephenville has the biggest tax base of all the towns and communities in Bay St. George," he said. "This will drive our costs in St. George's up about an additional $20,000 and we just don't have that in our budget."

Without the participation of the towns of Stephenville and Kippens, who has its garbage collected by Stephenville, the tender price per household would be about $72, said Mayor Alexander. And that is a price he said is just too high to ask some places to pay.

"In St. George's we're responsible for [garbage collecting in] Flat Bay, St. Teresa's, Barachois Brook," he said. "They pay the town a fee."

Fees paid by smaller towns to larger towns for collection and those fees would rise as well due to associated costs.

A solution to the problem was discussed at length at the Ramea meeting and again at a meeting held in Kippens last week. A separate committee was formed with representatives from the various town councils and local service districts.

"We'll meet again the 21st of June at the town hall in Stephenville and discuss the Stephenville issue further," said Mayor Alexander.

Meanwhile, the St. George's incinerator is set to shut down the end of June. Its not yet sure if the Town of St. George's will need to ask the province for permission to extend its use.

To prepare for what the province said is the imminent 'supersite' for waste disposal on the west cost, it has awarded funds to St. George's to prepare its dump to become a temporary landfill, effectively shutting down the other town dump and waste sites in Bay St. George.

There is no slated date yet slated for the St. George's facility to take in waste from the other communities, but Mayor Alexander said a major priority at the new site from the start would be recycling.

In the meantime, Mayor Alexander said the new committee would encourage Stephenville to take another look at the figures associated with operating the new site. He said if Kippens decides to stay onside with other user groups, the projected cost of $72 cost per household would drop a little lower.

reporter@thegeorgian.ca