City staff are recommending that council approve proposed amendments to the waste management user fee bylaw by incrementally increasing tipping fees up to $90 per tonne by next January, as well as requiring all double axle trailers to be weighed and charged the appropriate tipping fee. Trucks carrying a single axle trailer would also be charged an additional $10 for the second load. PHOTO BY LIAM BERTI
Waste dumping costs at the Merrick landfill site could be on the rise.
A City of North Bay staff report was presented to council at Monday night's committee discussions, where senior facilities and environment engineer Karin Pratte recommended three key changes.
First and foremost, she proposed that tipping fees be increased to $87 per tonne up from the current $84, which would take effect on April 1, 2015. On January 1, 2016, the fees would jump again to $90 per tonne.
The report also recommends that any double axle trailer, whether commercial and residential, be required to weigh in at the scale and be charged the appropriate tipping fee.
Further, any residential trucks that are carrying waste and a second load in a single-axle trailer will be given an additional $10 charge for the second load.
The Engineering and Works Committee moved the report forward and council is expected to vote on the matter during next week’s regular meeting.
The report delivered earlier this week states that for every dollar increase on solid waste tipping fees, the city would expect to see an increase of roughly $30,000 in annual revenues.
“The additional revenue received will go towards funding increased annual operating expenses and fund future landfill capital projects,” Pratte explained.
Pratte said the tipping fees for general solid waste at the Merrick site are comparable to other communities.
Sudbury, for example, charges $71 per tonne, Timmins charges $75 per tonne, while Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes charge $90 and $95, respectively. On the higher end, Orillia charges $140 per tonne, while Barrie charges $145.
Pratte said that even though Sudbury’s fees appear to be less than North Bay’s, they often charge double or triple their $71 fee if the load is mixed with electronics or other recyclables, for example. North Bay, though, does not do that.
While the city has charged the same $20 flat-rate fee per load for residential customers since the site opened in 1994, they have noticed that commercial trailer loads are being allowed on the residential side and are far exceeding the expected weight allowance.
Based on that $20 fee, a load should be approximately 0.3 tonnes. However, recent reports have shown that the average weight those trailers are carrying is anywhere between one and three tonnes, resulting in the shortening of the landfill’s life expectancy without receiving any revenue to recover the costs.
As of the end of November 2014, the landfill received 3,512 trailers throghout the year, approximately 70 per cent of which were double axle trailers.
“In order to properly determine the volume of waste entering our landfill site and to properly charge residents for their use of the landfill, I recommend that all double axle trailers, commercial or residential, be weighed and charged the new fees,” Pratte explained.
City staff estimate that the proposed fee structure for residential trailer loads would increase their annual revenue by up to $150,000.
“We want to make sure that the cost of dumping actually pays for the landfill site so that the general taxpayer isn’t subsidizing other commercial uses or individuals that are bringing garbage to our landfill site from outside our city boundaries,” Mayor Al McDonald said after Monday’s meeting.
“We want to do everything we can to divert, recycle and keep fill out of our landfill site so that we can extend the lifespan of that asset,” he also added.
When prompted about the increased fees potentially causing people to travel to other, cheaper landfill sites, Pratte said it would be highly unlikely, but if it did happen it would ultimately extend the life expectancy of the Merrick location.
When asked if increasing the fees too high might also encourage illegal dumping elsewhere, Pratte said she didn’t think it would and that those who try to get away with it already are probably willing to risk doing it at any price rate.
She also cited the city’s anti-littering bylaw and the investigation process and fines that are charged to those who are found guilty of it.
The Merrick landfill was opened in 1994 and Pratte said the site has an estimated life expectancy of another 19 years. The recently developed cell 6 is expected to last for four or five years, while the construction of cell 7 is expected to get underway in Spring of this year.
Those two projects are estimated to cost in the neighbourhood of $7 million, while the planned leachate treatment facility will have an annual operating cost of roughly $250,000.
Looking to the long-term outlook, when asked how much it would cost to locate, commission and get the ball rolling on a new landfill site, Pratte said the price tag would be in the range of $10 million. On the other hand, to expand on the current site could cost in the range of $2 million to $5 million each upgrade.
“The landfill site is an important asset for our community and it’s a very costly asset if we ever have to replace it,” said McDonald. “You wouldn’t think that garbage costs money, but it’s an incredibly expensive proposition for a community to start a new landfill site.”
