Garbage contract extended

Times Reporter      

 

A request to extend the contract with H&H Huxted Enterprises Ltd was brought to council at the May 21 town council meeting. Under the current contract there was a provision that allowed council to extend the contract for one to two years. Colin Huxted, owner of H&H Huxted Enterprises Ltd., requested that it be two years, with a few amendments to the current contract. 

The proposed amendments include removing the reference to recycling because it is a separate contract; adding extension date, which is Dec. 31, 2016; adding the additional dates of 2015/2016 and inflating the residential rate by three per cent per year.  Previously that rate had been inflated by four per cent but Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the Town Linda Nelson said, “Mr. Huxted has stated that he would just like to be close to the cost of living increase.” 

Another amendment was to include additional sanctioned landfills based on merit. The town and contractor can consider any landfill that the two agree upon, based on the merits of the landfill, such as cost savings to the town. 

Huxted had told Nelson he would also donate an additional day of Heavy Item Garbage (HIG) pickup to collect Christmas trees. The unit rates were also updated to reflect the rates and the additional dwelling unit numbers. 

Three Hills landfill has also been added as a sanctioned landfill site. The rate for their landfill has been added along with a clause that Huxted will charge a maximum of an additional $27 per tonne for trucking outside of the City of Calgary, where the cost will result in a savings to the town of at least $5 a tonne.

The recommendation from council was to approve the amendments and the extensions until Dec. 31, 2016. 

Mayor Michael Ell had a few questions of administration but his main concern was the removal of the bond of indemnity to the town, the surety bond. Though he knows it was removed in the past, and he has great confidence that Huxted will continue to serve the community, Ell said it caused him some concern.

“My thoughts are should something happen to the principle of H&H Huxted, or some sort of disaster befall the company that we can’t even conceive of, where does that put the town in regards to our situation and that causes me some concern if the performance surety is not there,” said Ell. 

Nelson said there are a couple of clauses in the agreement under performance failure. The clauses state that if the contractor fails to perform any of the obligations or the agreements of the contract then all expenses or expenditures made by or on behalf of the town under the section would have to be paid by the contractor within 30 days. 

The motion to accept the extension and the changes passed with Ell voting opposed to the motion.