By Mark Squibb/December 9, 2022
The Town of Bay Bulls has renewed its contract with the Eastern Regional Service Board (ERSB), though one councillor argued that council ought to look elsewhere for the service.
The board had requested a three-year waste collection contract extension, at a rate of $200 per household.
“Upon receipt of the letter, I did reach out to ERSB for further clarification,” said chief administrative officer Jennifer Aspell. “I asked whether there was an option to renew for less than three years, and the answer was ‘No,’ and I asked if the rate would be locked in for three years, and the answer was ‘No,’ however they would not raise the cost unless absolutely necessary.”
Aspell noted the ERSB had indicated the previous rate of $180 had been held steady for quite some time before going up to $200.
“So, they don’t have any plans to increase the fees, but they can’t commit to locking them in for the three-year period,” said Aspell, who added the ERSB had requested a motion be passed by November 30.
Councillor Jason Sullivan, who has often criticized the ERSB, bemoaned that council did not have time to tender waste collection.
Sullivan asked whether council could seek a month’s extension to request tenders from local contractors.
Aspell said a month wouldn’t be enough time to complete the necessary work.
“You would need more than a month,” said Aspell. “Because we don’t have a tender ready to go. So, we would have to develop the tender. I would say, if you really want to put a tender out, you would certainly need a couple of months to get something put together, issued, and received.”
Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien said he doubted any contractors could compete with the rate being offered by the ERSB, and suggested the simple and straight forward thing would be to forge on with renewing the ERSB contract.
Sullivan countered that unless they tendered the work, they wouldn’t know for sure that ERSB actually is the cheapest option.
“They’re asking us to enter a contract without giving us a price,” said Sullivan.
O’Brien countered that within the last three years, the ERSB only raised their fee by $20.
“And fuel cost is going to escalate across the board, regardless of who’s driving the trucks,” said O’Brien.
Sullivan then claimed that someone must have been listening in to the meeting, because they texted him that they would do the work for a rate of $195. He said he didn’t recognise the number.
Sullivan then asked whether council could make the motion that they would accept the services at a set rate of $200.
Aspell said ‘No.’
In the end, the motion was approved unanimously.
