The Town of Canmore is going to look into contracting its street sweeping services.
The issue came up as part of the 2011 capital budget deliberations last week.
Councillor Hans Helder made the motion, which passed unanimously, to delay a proposal to purchase a new sweeper for $250,000 until next year.
He also put forward direction to administration to conduct a cost benefit analysis on outsourcing the service.
“Maybe there is an alternative way of looking at this and turning a fixed capital cost into a variable operational cost,” Helder said.
Deputy chief administrative officer Lisa de Soto said the Town currently contracts part of its street sweeping during spring.
She added the Town’s current street sweeper is 12 years old and costs $25,000 a year in maintenance.
“The existing street sweeper has pretty much reached the end of its useful life,” de Soto said.
Mayor Ron Casey supported looking at the cost analysis of providing the service through a contract.
