I'm tired of subsidizing DWK: James

Wayne Moore - CASTANET  Nov 9, 2010 / 5:00 am
Kelowna City Council has said yes to a computerized system which will track how residents are utilizing the new Automated Garbage Collection System.  Along with basic collection data the computerized system, which includes on-board cameras, can detect garbage contamination. "Lets use an example of a yard waste cart that has some material in it that shouldn't be there. If the driver has the ability to make a note of that particular cart and the contamination that goes in to it, that allows us to come back and provide some customer education," says Utility Services Manager, Don Degen. "When a cart has some in it that shouldn't be in it like glass, or metal or whatever it might be, it has a tendency to contaminate the entire load. When it goes to the landfill and it's dumped, there's an inordinate amount of time that staff have to take to go through the material." Degen says the software will cost between $1.50 and $1.70 per household, funds that will come from low net costs of recycling processing. That cost is based on the entire region participating, and since West Kelowna has oped not to take part, Degen says the cost will likely be closer to the high end of the estimate.

West Kelowna refusal to participate angered one City Councillor. "Frankly I am getting a little tired of subsidizing West Kelowna and I think we should look at that. I know it's a regional landfill some say but we run it and we own it," says Councillor Graeme James. "We should take a hard stand here. I don't think we should be subsidizing West Kelowna."  James asked if an additional fee could be charged to West Kelowna residents if contaminated loads end up at the landfill.  "We are actually looking at how we might do that. It's going to come down to determining which loads are coming in from the westside and trying to find out if there is additional contamination that could be taken care of through this system and look at the costs associated with that," added Degen. Mayor Sharon Shepherd says Kelowna will have to receive a report from staff on possible contamination before making any decisions. "That could impact the taxpayers of West Kelowna if they don't have this program in existence because there may have to be an extra charge for a review of the waste containers coming from West Kelowna," says Shepherd. "Also, they won't receive that statistical data that the other communities will eventually have to make better decisions." Shepherd says the statistical data is the vital part of the program for her. She says that information could be used to institute a form of user pay garbage collection service based on a residents collection volume.