Quispamsis approves garbage collection, curbside recycling

Quispamsis council voted on Tuesday night to bring in a town-wide garbage collection system by the beginning of the year and curbside recycling by May.

Council awarded a four-year, $558,000 contract to Fero Waste and Recycling with the option to renew in another four years.

"That was a defining moment for me as mayor to see a council work as such a team to move forward on the project with everyone on side," said Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll.

The proposed changes would raise the tax rate by nearly five cents per $100 of assessment.

Driscoll said the majority of residents — those with property assessed below $600,000 — will actually save money compared to what they pay now for private garbage collection.

"It has come about now where people are so environmentally conscious, wanting to recycle, not wanting to throw everything on the 'back 40,' we have come to the conclusion that it's time," he said.

"We must do this and we are one of the few, if not the only community, the last community this side of Toronto that doesn't have garbage within the tax rate."

Quispamsis soundly rejected regional proposal

Last year, Quispamsis rejected a proposal for a Fundy region-wide curbside recycling program.

The Fundy Regional Service Commission had estimated the added cost for Quispamsis to move from the existing community blue bin drop-off depots to full curbside recycling pick-up would be about $60,000 a year.

The vote against was unanimous, and Coun. Emil Olsen said it was just not the time.

"It would be an additional cost that we just feel is new expenditures that we don't want to put onto the residents at this time," Olsen said last October.

But the numbers make more sense now, Driscoll said Wednesday on Information Morning Saint John.

"The numbers indicate we will save over $870,000 a year. That would not happen as far as I'm concerned with regional recycling," he said.

"It's not an about face, we have always been interested in putting it into the tax rate, but being able to do in on a system as we're doing it now. It did not appear to me to be possible because of the haulers and how we would be locked in."

Driscoll said there were many uncertainties over the cost of the regional program, and the new contract with Fero seems consistent with what other communities pay.

A survey by the local waste commission indicated 57 per cent of the people in Quispamsis support curbside pickup.

Four of five Canadian households currently have curbside recycling pickup.