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Town council continues negotiations around curbside pick-up

Jan 12, 2018 | 3:28 PM

 

REDCLIFF, AB — Town council and staff are in negotiations, working on a possible contract to bring curbside pick-up to the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.

Currently, much of the town uses large bins which are located in back alleys to dispose of any garbage and recyclables.

There are roughly five bins per block. Each bin serves about four houses.

Mayor Dwight Kilpatrick said the bins don’t promote recycling, which is something the town has had its sights set on for years.

Residents have begun to hear about the possible changes and some aren’t happy, even expressing frustrations on social media.

Many of the concerns being shared revolve around where residents will keep their bins and how much trouble they’ll cause for seniors and people living with disabilities.

Residents are also concerned about the cost and how much more they’ll be expected to pay.

Some residents have shown interested in starting a petition in hopes of keeping the back alley bins.

Arlos Crofts, municipal manager with the town, said they’re still in the negotiating process and said council will have the final say once the numbers have been crunched.

He said the town is looking at all of the options and said the cost is at the forefront.

“During the negotiation process, we would work on a contract with regard to cost, what the service would look like, how it would be rolled out, how it would be implemented and ultimately that contract would be placed for consideration before the town council for them to make a final decision,” he said.

Kilpatrick admits council hasn’t said much to residents about the new curbside bins because they’re still in negotiations and the contracts are confidential.

He said he understands the concerns residents have and agrees that council has the same concerns.

He said when council voted to start looking a potential contractors, even the councillors weren’t unanimous in the decision.

One of his concerns is that Redcliff doesn’t recycle and he said the town needs to start moving into the future.

“I believe I love my back alley bin as much as anybody,” he said. “But when it comes to how this is going to go into the future, how should we be, as far as citizens and carrying on in the world, I believe that we have to start looking at our waste management and we have to start to recycle.”