CALEB NICKERSON
Campbell’s bay Aug. 12, 2019
On Monday Aug. 12, the MRC Pontiac Council held a special meeting to vote on a new contractor for waste management in the region. The mayors had voted at their last meeting in June to end their contract with . . .
Tom Orr Cartage (TOC) early, as it was only set to expire next spring, and put out a call to tender that remained open from June 26 to July 29.
TOC had been dealing with equipment and labour issues for several months, and residents and councils were growing concerned with trash accumulating and irregular pickups. On Aug. 7 the company declared bankruptcy and issued a list of creditors that totals more than $3.5 million. The largest single creditor on the list is the owner of the company, Jenner Garcia, and his wife Luzdary Manjarres, at $1.4 million. Garcia bought the company from Tom Orr in 2014.
The new contract, awarded to Campbell’s Bay Ciment, was approved unanimously and is set for a three year term, with the option of two additional years. The price for the first year is $258.48 a tonne and is set to begin on Aug. 19, as the old contract ends on Aug. 18.
The other bid was from Location Martin Lalonde, at $364 per tonne. There were no representatives from Portage du Fort, Sheenboro or Waltham present at the meeting.
Following the meeting, MRC territory director Regent Dugas explained that they received two bids in the time allotted and a committee was formed to assess them, made up of director general Bernard Roy, Dugas, environment coordinator Kari Richardson and county clerk Travis Ladouceur.
Dugas explained that the committee presented their assessment to the council in a lengthy in-camera session before they approved the winning bid.
“There was always the possibility that the mayors would reject both tenders because of the price,” he said. “That was their decision to make, and that was a possibility. We didn’t want to go public with the price … or the names [at the time], in the case where both were rejected.”
The previous cost per tonne with TOC was $212.
“With the price of fuel increasing, I think it was very difficult for our previous contractor to deliver at that price,” Toller said.
She added that Campbell’s Bay Ciment would be taking over TOC’s transfer station in Clarendon, though she said they hadn’t purchased it yet. She was confident that the transition between the two businesses would be seamless.
“The best way to try and save money would be to reduce our garbage,” Dugas noted. “The price will never go lower. It will always increase.”
In 2018, residents in the 18 municipalities generated 4,826 tonnes of waste, which cost more than a million dollars to be disposed. The amount projected for this year is 4,900 tonnes.
