STAFF REPORT: YARD AND GARDEN WASTE CONTRACT

YARD AND GARDEN WASTE CONTRACT

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council endorse the Township of Esquimalt’s award for the operation of the transfer station and processing of the yard and garden waste stream to Ellice Recycling for a three-year period at a total contract cost of $1,019,556 (excluding GST), as detailed in the Township of Esquimalt’s staff report EPW-23-019;

AND THAT the Town contribute $129,360.00, $135,835.20 and $142,627.20 to the Contract for the years 2024, 2025 and 2026 respectively as part of the cost sharing agreement as detailed in the Township of Esquimalt’s staff report EPW-23-019.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to advise Council of:

1. the Town of View Royal’s (“View Royal”) Yard and Garden Waste partnership with the Township of Esquimalt (“Esquimalt”);
2. the outcome of the recent RFP for the Yard and Garden Waste Contract, facilitated by Esquimalt; and
3. Staff’s recommendation to maintain View Royal’s existing level of service.

TIME CRITICAL:

Per Esquimalt Council’s resolution on the contract award to Ellice Recycle (staff report attached), the award of the contract also requires approval by View Royal Council.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

View Royal has historically partnered with Esquimalt in its yard and garden waste processing, given the CRD’s imposed ban of such materials from its landfill. The processing facility is currently within Esquimalt’s public works yard, operated by a third-party service provider, and administered by Esquimalt.

The contract with their service provider ends in 2023. Therefore, Esquimalt underwent the RFP process to obtain a new three-year contract with a successful proponent. View Royal staff had been informed and consulted throughout the RFP process.

Staff support Esquimalt’s recommendation to award the contract for the operation of the transfer station and processing of the yard and garden waste to Ellice Recycling for a three-year period at a total cost of $1,019,556. View Royal would be required to contribute $477,822.40 to the contract for these three years. Staff consider this to be good value for money as stipulated under Purchasing Policy #1600-021. The level of service for View Royal residents will remain the same as previous years.

View Royal would be required to pay some additional operational/administration fees to Esquimalt (property taxes, electricity, site maintenance, administration of the transfer station and contract costs). These costs are relatively minimal (~5%) and would be incorporated into View Royal’s budget from 2024 to 2026.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:

In 2006, the CRD imposed a ban on depositing yard and garden waste at the Hartland Landfill. As a result, Esquimalt and View Royal entered into a partnership to provide a joint yard and garden waste service that would benefit both municipalities’ residents. Doing so provided the Town with a close, convenient location to dispose of their yard and garden waste (the transfer station is located at 605 Canteen Road – Esquimalt’s Public Works Yard). Furthermore, it alleviated View Royal’s spatial challenges: View Royal, historically and presently, does not have the public space, staffing and equipment to own and operate a yard and garden waste facility. The facility is currently operated by a third-party service provider (Ellice Recycle).

Contract Renewal and Esquimalt’s Rationale for Selected Option

View Royal staff were aware of Esquimalt’s need to renew the Yard and Garden Waste contract and reached out to discuss in September 2023. After meeting with Esquimalt, it was confirmed that the new contract would maintain the same level of service that View Royal residents see today.

A new RFP was subsequently released by Esquimalt with a closing date of October 27, 2023. The RFP requested proposals based on a three-year term with the potential to extend the contract by two one-year extensions. The cost of these extensions would be negotiated between the service provider and the Township at that time. The new contract would begin January 1, 2024, and end December 31, 2026.

Per Esquimalt’s staff report, two proposals were submitted to the Township with annual costs (excluding GST) as follows:

Table 1: Cost Comparison of the two proposals

The proposals were evaluated by Esquimalt staff under the following merits:

• Cost of three-year contract (40%)
• Location of the transfer station (20%)
• Capacity and experience (15%)
• Operations / safety / usage plan (10%)
• Hours of operation (10%)
• References (5%)

Based on the above metrics, Esquimalt staff recommended that the contract for the yard and garden waste facility be awarded to Ellice Recycle. Furthermore, the facility would still be administered by Esquimalt’s Public Works Manager, and activities related to this contract would not impose any significant organizational implications.

The total contract amount (excluding GST), if awarded to Ellice Recycle would be:

• 2024 = $323,400
• 2025 = $339,588
• 2026 = $356,568

Cost Split Between Esquimalt and View Royal

Cost splitting has historically been based on the populations of the two municipalities, utilizing past Census information. Therefore, the cost splitting for the new contract would be based on the most recent Census (2021). The cost share for the new contract would be split 40% for View Royal and 60% for Esquimalt.

The cost split for the new contract between the two municipalities would be as follows:

Table 2: Cost Implications to View Royal

In addition, View Royal pays to Esquimalt a portion of the operational costs for Esquimalt to operate the facility (property taxes, electricity, site maintenance, administration of the transfer station and contract costs). The costs are adjusted each year to reflect actual costs.

Staff agree with Esquimalt’s evaluation of the RFP. Ellice Recycle was the previous operator of the facility. Therefore, it is expected that the level of service will be maintained and that minimal re-training / onboarding would be required of the service provider.

SUSTAINABILITY/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

The service aligns with the Community Climate Action Strategy: Big Move #5 Diverting organics from landfill.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

Although operational costs are adjusted each year and not finalized at this time, View Royal estimates these fees for budgeting purposes, extrapolated from previous data. The Town expects the total annualized costs including operational fees to be approximately $136,370 for 2024.

The current (2023) budget for the Town of View Royal’s yard and garden waste contribution to the existing Contract is $101,289 (including operational costs). Therefore, by following the Township of Esquimalt’s recommended contract award, the Town would see an increase of its contribution by approximately $35,081 in 2024. This amounts to an overall taxation increase of approximately 0.3%.

ALTERNATIVES:

Similarly to Esquimalt’s alternatives, View Royal Council could:

1. Request additional information from staff; or
2. Provide alternate direction to staff.

However, staff recommend that View Royal approve of the contract award as indicated by Esquimalt – doing so would follow View Royal’s Purchasing Policy #1600-021, notably Objective 2.2: View Royal receiving the best value for money spent. This is predominantly due to View Royal being able to utilize Esquimalt’s existing facility and incur no additional capital costs as a result at this time.

CONCLUSION:

View Royal has historically partnered with Esquimalt in its yard and garden waste disposal. The facility is currently within Esquimalt’s public works yard, operated by a third-party service provider, and administered by Esquimalt.

With the existing contract with the service provider ending in 2023, Esquimalt was required to undergo the RFP process to seek a new contract. View Royal staff have been informed and consulted on the RFP and agree with Esquimalt’s recommendation to award the new contract to Ellice Recycle, the existing service providers.

The cost for View Royal in 2024 (including operational fees, but excluding GST) would be approximately $35,081 higher than View Royal’s 2023 budget. Staff consider this to be good value for money as (1) the facility location and level of service will remain the same as existing, (2) no additional capital costs are currently required as the facility will still be overseen by Esquimalt public works, and (3) Ellice Recycle were the previous service providers and therefore performance is expected to be maintained.

As a result, staff support Esquimalt’s recommendation to award the contract for the operation of the transfer station and processing of the yard and garden waste to Ellice Recycling for a three-year period at a total cost of $1,019,556, of which View Royal would contribute $477,822.40 to the contract.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Esquimalt Report EPW-23-019: Yard and Garden Waste Facility – Contract Award