Chestermere Utilities Inc. (CUI) is exploring the potential to outsource waste collection and processing services in Chestermere.
With the city, CUI has released a Request For Expression of Interest (RFEI) for waste collection processing services.
“We’re sampling the marketplace.” said CUI Transition Manager Rick Quail.
“We’ve basically put together a document where we’re providing a little background on the operation of CUI as it relates to the waste management portfolio.
“And we’re issuing this…as kind of a first step in looking at contractors to perform residential waste and recycling collection and processing,” he said.
The release of the RFEI comes as part of the work done to determine how to transition CUI and its operations into something that the city has more control over.
“Council, which is the board of directors of CUI, has said to the community we’re going to explore all options for transitioning CUI and that includes where feasible and viable the potential for outsourcing of services,” said Quail.
He said that the use of contracted services for waste collection is common in other communities.
“We immediately saw that as an opportunity to go out to the marketplace and see what the marketplace had to say,” said Quail.
He described the RFEI as an information document to get feedback and advice from potential contractors on the different components of the current bidding practices.
“So, it’s to inform us on market place conditions and preferences related to bidding structure, some of the mechanics associated with the operation of waste collection services and how a private operator for example would go about collection,” said Quail.
Some of the information they are looking to get includes how potential contractors would handle missed pick-ups and how they would account for variability in fuel costs.
Once the information has been collected, a process Quail hopes will be completed by early February, the city and CUI will ready to put out a Request for Proposals to select a contractor should city council choose to go that route for the collection and processing of garbage, recycling and organics in Chestermere.
“We’re gauging the market, we’re trying to understand the marketplace with respect to delivery of these services and putting together that request for proposals with that knowledge and information in hand,” said Quail.
If council decides to outsource waste collection, then the collection of all three streams of waste as well as the collection of lake weeds from the lakeside house will be done by a third party.
The release of the RFEI does not affect collection services in the city.
