By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle

Waste collection services in the Town of Osoyoos will continue with the same contract and services, though amended in a couple of areas, as the Town looks to maintain consistency with other South Okanagan municipalities.

The original contract with Waste Connections of Canada Inc. (WCC) was part of a group Request for Proposal (RFP) with the City of Penticton, Town of Oliver, District of Summerland, Village of Keremeos, and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen for waste collection services.

First pitched in Fall 2023, the other municipalities saw their agreements be effective until June 30, 2025, and as such have already renewed their deals with WCC.

Tyler Madsen, the Director of Operational Services, said that the proposed six-year extension of the deal on Osoyoos’s end is intentional.

“The highlights of the agreement (include) extending the agreement to June 30, 2032, which aligns with the rest of the region,” Madsen noted.

That approach is one Mayor Sue McKortoff, who serves on the RDOS Board of Directors, approves of.

“Sitting at the RDOS table, I definitely agree we should be in sync with the rest of them,” McKortoff said. “Makes it much easier when we’re talking about contracts, and purchasing equipment – it can all be done at once, and there’s a cost savings to that.”

Amendments are being made in the contract extension, although none of them are considered very significant. Under the terms of the extension, there will be only two “collection events” per year, or weeks during which there is unlimited yard and garden waste pickup.

A “tag-a-bag” program is included to have yard waste pickup be collected outside of those events, for an additional fee of $1.50 per bag.

Rate increases will be implemented across the board, to take effect August 16. While the per-residence, per-month or per-event rates are mostly increasing by amounts less than 25 cents, curbside garbage collection rates will increase from $7.53 per residence per month, to $8.36.

The only other amendment made is to offer “basic contamination monitoring in the recycled material collection”, to ensure safety during that collection.

Council voted unanimously to approve the contract extension. Rate increases, and any other impacts to the general public, will be communicated by the Town throughout the term.