CORNWALL – A $24 million, seven year trash and recycling deal on the table for tonight’s (Monday) council meeting isn’t the cheapest option for taxpayers and will likely lead to local layoffs.
That’s because an evaluation committee is recommending council award the contract to a three-month-old company – Environmental 360 Solutions of Pickering, Ont. – instead of the existing contractor, HGC Management.
The bid recommended is also $154,000 more expensive than the lowest bid.
HGC, which bought Cornwall-based Canadian Recycling Services in 2015, was almost $154,000 less than Environmental 360 Solutions. ($21,273,864 for E360 versus $21,120,314 for HGC).
The evaluation committee scored both companies on seven criteria: capabilities and credentials, human resources requirements, facilities and equipment requirements, operational requirements, quality assurance and control, cost and value added services and innovation.
Based on that scoring system, HGC didn’t come out in the end as the preferred option.
Municipal Works General Manager John St. Marseille, Division Manager Bill de Wit, Waste Management Supervisor Danielle Watson and Deputy Treasurer Paul Scrimshaw are on the committee.
Despite repeated emails and phone calls, Cornwall Newswatch has been unable to obtain results of the evaluation committee’s scoring results. (Update: At 3:41 p.m., CFO Tracey Bailey emailed Cornwall Newswatch to say the information would not be shared publicly until the RFP is awarded by council.)
Local layoffs will happen: HGC President
“It’s significant to me and my employees. I’ve got employees that are long term and they’re all upset about it, obviously. This happened very quickly. It only happened Thursday night or Friday morning that the report’s out there,” HGC President Herb Lambacher told Cornwall Newswatch.
He says contractors who do service work for HGC, such as truck repair, are also upset about what’s likely to happen.
Lambacher says he’s asked to speak at tonight’s council meeting but the forum may not allow him to say anything.
If his company loses the contract, it will hurt local operations because of a switch over at the landfill site on Cornwall Centre Road.
“We’re in town. We have the equipment in place, the trucks and everything. There’s no transition issues. If I lose the contract, then I’ve got to pull my equipment out and new contractor has to get his in the plant. There’s going to be a little kerfuffle with changeover. It’s not going to be an easy process,” Lambacher said.
When it came to eliminating bulky item pickup, a goal of the Long Term Solid Waste Management Plan, Lambacher said his bid, which included bulky item pickup, was actually lower than eliminating it. “The option with continuing with bulky pickup was actually lower than the option of not having the bulky pickup. In my mind there’s no saving of getting rid of bulky pickup.”
“Well, my staff will be laid off. Everybody that works for me. There’s no guarantee the new person will acquire any of the people I have,” Lambacher said.
Tonight’s council meeting starts at 7 p.m. on the second floor of 360 Pitt Street.