MARCH 24, 2021
News Advertiser PAGE 7
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Town of Vegreville Purchases $1 Million Compactor for Landfill Michelle Pinon News Advertiser Following a written report and much discussion members of town council they decided to spend just over $1 million for a compactor at the Vegreville Sanitary Landfill at its March 8 meeting. During a budget meeting back in December of 2020 Mayor Tim MacPhee told colleagues he wanted to discuss the possibility of purchasing a compactor at a later date. He also requested Infrastructure, Planning & Development Director Dale Lefebvre to compile a report for council’s consideration. Lefebvre presented the report during the Feb. 16 legislative committee meeting. Contained in the highlights of the report it stated that purchasing of a compactor would restore the life expectancy of the landfill to 52 years from its current estimate of 26 years. As well, with life cycling of the compactor they could expect to use it between 10 and 15 years. In addition, it would increase compaction by 110 percent. It would also achieve compaction in less passes resulting in a 66 percent savings in operator time, fuel, and equipment wear. It would also extend the life cycle of the crawler loader from 5 years to 10-12 years. Three options were presented to council for a compactor ranging from $1,033,411 to $1,087,700. Council selected the second option with a purchase price of $1,075,200. “A five percent contingency will be added to the recommended compactor for a total of $1,085,000 to cover any incidental costs, compensation for any market fluctuations or minor changes in the exchange rate,” stated Lefebvre. “I know that this is a very large budget item that was not budgeted, but what we’ve seen in the last few years in our landfill and the amount of intake and compaction were getting…This piece of equipment is vital to stretch out the longevity so we can all appreciate that we need to take care of this planet and be stewards of the environment, but that comes not through unproven technology at this time. When we see larger municipalities having success with this technology we should be able to move slowly in that direction. But, no matter what, we still are going to need a compactor because to operate a landfill
without one doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Councillor Taneen Rudyk countered by saying that her proposal was not unproven technology. “While I appreciate the thought and consideration that’s been done through this report. I cannot support this purchase at this time. I do feel like there are other solutions that could take precedence and they are not exploratory, but could solve problems in the long-term.” What those proposed solutions were was not made clear as Coun. Rudyk made a previous presentation to council privately. Councillor Dave Berry, who made the motion to approve the purchase of the compactor, said he agreed with Coun. Rudyk that they need to look to the future. “We need to plan for the future and diverting from the landfill will be important; and I would suggest we start saving monies in reserve to look toward that in the future. But for right now we’re faced with a situation where we have to conserve the space we have in our landfill as it is.” Councillor Jerrold Lemko also agreed they must prepare for the future. “But right now the need for the compactor is here because we are increasing our intake twice as much as we’ve had in the past. So, the time to be prudent is right now with the compactor and also to be mindful of the fact we need to look at other sources of how we treat our landfill and our waste.” According to the town, approximately 60 percent of revenue at the landfill comes from commercial haulers which was approximately 8,500 tonnes in 2020. Purchasing of the compactor is not expected to result in the hiring of extra staff, but will assist with meeting Alberta Environment and Parks standards to improve operational efficiency at the landfill. Council voted in favour of the purchase of the compactor with Coun. Rudyk having the only dissenting vote.
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