BANFF – The Town of Banff plans to borrow $750,000 to buy equipment to extend its contract with Parks Canada to collect garbage and recycling in Lake Louise.
Council has passed first reading of a borrowing bylaw in order to pay for a new garbage truck, a hoist lift roll-off truck and three roll-off bins. Consideration of second and third reading is expected August 13.
“Repayment of these debentures will be financed over a 10-year term and we will be earning enough money though this contract to cover our costs,” said Councillor Chip Olver.
Since April 2016, the Town of Banff has been collecting garbage and recycling through a short-term agreement for only the Parks Canada buildings within the Lake Louise field unit.
But the Town is now entering into a five-year contract with Parks Canada to extend the collection service to participating outlying hotels from Castle Junction to the B.C. border.
In addition, $300,000 is needed from the operating budget to pay wages and benefits for additional staff, materials, supplies and contracted services needed to run the service, which is expected to start July 1.
Town officials say this is an excellent example of the benefits of inter-governmental cooperation in Canada’s first national park and an alternative revenue option for the Town.
“Given the Town of Banff’s experience and ability to effectively manage solid waste removal, anticipated benefits include non-duplication of services and an efficient mechanism to manage the solid waste of the Lake Louise field unit,” said Ken Crerar, resource recovery manager.
Hugh Pettigrew, who ran for mayor in the last municipal election, said he wanted to see a detailed business case for this contract and also questioned why the entire program wasn’t identified in the 2018 review of municipal services and budgets.
“Whilst it is not a requirement of our municipality to cover other territories for a waste collection program, I do understand and support the prospect of venturing our services at a profit,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there are no public details provided with this request nor a draft of the contract documents. I note that these are or should be public contract documents.”
Town officials say the documents will be public when signed.
By the end of 2018, the Town of Banff will be at 28 per cent of its total debt limit capacity. The total limit for 2018 is $65.7 million. The Town’s current debt for this year is $13.1 million.
