Green For Life, or GFL, has been selected to handle operations and maintenance of Squamish’s landfill for a price of about $9.3 million over five years — a 19% increase over the previous agreement.
GFL bought Carney’s in 2018, and has since been in charge of garbage collection and removal in Squamish.
This deal works out to about $1.85 million per year. It also comes with the option to extend the agreement on the same terms and conditions.
This could be for an additional two terms, each spanning two years, or until the landfill closes — whichever comes first.
On Jan. 28, council voted in a 5-1 decision in favour of giving GFL the contract. Coun. Chris Pettingill was the sole dissenting vote, while Coun. Doug Race recused himself.
Before leaving the discussion, Race said his reason for recusal was that his election campaign manager for the last three elections, Denise Imbeau, has become the manager of GFL from Squamish to Pemberton.
Mayor Karen Elliott wanted to know what taxpayers could expect, given that the price has risen by 19% this time around.
“What’s in it for me as a taxpayer? What am I going to see that’s different? Or what is better?” said Elliott.
“There is an increased scope. They are doing a better job of extending the life of the landfill, for example, through better compaction, which will have [a] very broad impact on rates in the millions of dollars to taxpayers [of] Squamish,” said municipal director of engineering Chris Wyckham.
A second landfill attendant will be there during peak busy times, which will hopefully create better service, said sustainability co-ordinator Shannon White.
White also outlined there were a number of new elements to this contract.
One new aspect is that the District has set out how much garbage they want compacted, and if the company doesn’t comply, it will be penalized with a fine, she said.
Landfill operators also are required to receive more training, she added.
Another new item is the addition of carbon offsets, White said.
GFL will put aside two cents per litre of diesel used to purchase offsets, which could reduce the operation’s carbon footprint by about 30%, White said.
Pettingill, however, said he wasn’t sure if two cents per litre was a good deal, and wanted more information.
“I would be a lot more comfortable supporting this when we have a bit more clarity on the emissions plan and offsets, and the oversight on diversion,” said Pettingill.
Coun. Eric Andersen wondered whether the scope of the contract should be changed to encourage other contractors to bid on the project. He noted that GFL was the sole company that bid for this job.
“It’s always advantageous to have competing bids,” said Andersen. “I just feel it should be an important consideration to make adjustments where we can or [where it’s] reasonable to ensure there’s competition.”
Wyckham said he didn’t think the District could’ve adjusted the scope in this case. Staff made sure they wrote the request for proposals in a way that didn’t give any group an advantage, he added.
He said staff would do some research to see how they can attract other bidders.
By the District’s count, in 2019, about 12,200 tonnes of garbage were thrown into the landfill.
Most materials, including all recyclables, are received at the transfer station, which sees about 100 vehicles per day on average.
