Waste not, want not.
There’s nothing, well almost nothing, that gets tax paying town and city dwellers irate than when the garbage collection service either fails or is flawed. The roll out of the Town of Edson’s new garbage and organics collection did not go well and the previous town run operation had to be reinstated. Councillors reported that they had never had so much feedback, presumably much, if not all of it, negative.
There was talk of contra charging the contractor, Can Pak Environmental Inc., even I believe revoking the contract, which administration said would be difficult. The latest update from the Town of Edson is that the delivery of green organic bins is almost complete and that the organic pick ups will be Monday and Tuesdays, west side and east side respectively. Regular household waste pick ups will continue on the old schedule until further notice.
The temptation to go with a contractor especially when new vehicles were needed by the town must have been great. However, contractor services mean that there may be initial hiccups, which we’ve already seen and that sometime those hiccups will turn into long lasting problems with all the taxpayer earache that goes with it.
The UK has had a green bin system for decades. By and large it works well. However, there are differences. Using an automated side loading truck can be problematic. Bins aren’t where they’re supposed to be, bins get moved, meaning missed pickups and irate residents. People are going to park their vehicles outside of their homes unless the Town of Edson makes all the streets no parking zones, good luck with that one. Also, organic bins. I’m sorry but they smell, sometimes they smell bad, even very bad. There are businesses in the UK that wash them out. Maybe some entrepreneur in Edson will take the job on. They’re going to need a lot of water.
For the narrower streets in the UK that are lined with parked cars garbage trucks are rear loading. Generally, there is a driver and two, sometimes three operatives feeding the bins to the back of the truck where they are lifted mechanically and emptied, the bins are then returned to their original locations. Rarely does a householder get missed because of the human element. It’s fast and efficient.
My concern borne over many years in the construction business is that if you sub contract something out, you may save money, but you lose control. The further away the contractor is based the worse it can be. That loss of control can cost you dear in customer relations and even loss of business. I hope the Town of Edson has some kind of get out clause if the contractor cannot perform, always smart to put one in.