The City of Sarnia has agreed to a four-year deal worth nearly $8-million for curbside waste collection services.
City council awarded the contract to Marcotte Disposal for $7,911,764.44 during Monday's meeting.
The new contract, beginning July 2019, will increase projected costs by $347,531.19 compared to 2018 projections.
There will be an 8% increase for curbside bulk and waste collection, 78% increase for yard waste collection and debagging, 5% increase for Christmas tree collection and a 7% decrease in brush collection.
Director of Finance Lisa Armstrong says the minimum wage increase and the increased cost of removing yard waste are the main reasons for the the rise in costs. She says manual debagging represents over 50% of the overall costs of the yard waste program.
Armstrong says choosing a new provider was a competitive process.
"There were nine proposals received, then we do an evaluation process where we look at their technical merit and the financial score, which is based on costs and such," says Armstrong. "In this case, it was Marcotte [that was evaluated as the best overall proposal]."
Currently, Marcotte is the provider for curbside collection while Emterra is the provider for the other services, so Armstrong says they're combining two contracts into one.
Within the proposal, four additional yard waste collections will bring the overall number to 18 per year.
The company will use the Trancso Recycling site at 387 McGregor Side Rd. as a waste transfer site, therefore reducing the transportation costs to the landfill in Watford.
The phase-in of a food and organic waste ban will be starting in 2022.
Armstrong says they'll make a decision on recyclables in the coming months.