Maple Ridge residents may soon be able to vote on whether they want a single, city-wide garbage pickup service.
A staff report next month will tell council how a referendum on the issue would work and who might be able to vote on the topic.
Council, last year, told staff to put together a request for bids to invite garbage collection companies to bid on providing the service.
Once bids came in, the city could determine how much an annual garbage pickup service would cost taxpayers.
Council had previously considered having a separate plebiscite to decide the issue, but now may attach the vote to the next civic election, Oct. 20, 2018.
“We’ve been having this conversation in the community for a long time. We just need to put it to the people and get this dealt with and put it to bed, one way or the other,” Coun. Tyler Shymkiw said Thursday.
He favours making it part of the election so the all city voters can decide.
“We’re so close to an election. You’re going to get much better participation in a referendum if you do it during an election.”
It’s currently not known who would be able to vote on the issue, just those in the service area or homeowners or the entire electorate.
Council, last year, decided that garbage would be collected every two weeks, as is the practice in most cities.
Shymkiw said after the referendum, whatever new council is elected can proceed from there.
He favours keeping the existing system, saying it would be cheaper, but people should be able to decide for themselves.
In the previous election, he favoured going to municipal picup, but private costs for collecting green waste haven’t risen as much as he feared.
The topic has been discussed for more than a decade at city hall.
Unlike most cities, Maple Ridge has no single, city-wide garbage collection company or a city-run collection service.
Instead, a handful of private companies offer curbside pickup to suburbs. They also now collect green waste and kitchen waste from homes.
A city-run service would only cover the areas currently served by the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society.
Council remains split on the issue.
“This would be, I would consider, the largest tax increase in Maple Ridge history if we put this through,” Coun. Gordy Robson said at council’s Tuesday meeting.
A city-run service, operated under contract, could cost between $200 and $300 a year per household in garbage levy charges, or about a 10-per-cent increase in taxes, said Robson.
But some people now pay about half of that.
In Pitt Meadows, single-family homes pay $253 a year for recycling, garbage and green waste collection.
If the Maple Ridge took on the service, extra staffing would be required, Robson added.
“The costs will be more than we anticipate.”
He still supports the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society and wants everyone to learn more about it.
“We have a better alternative than garbage collection.”
Coun. Craig Speirs also supported attaching the issue to the 2018 election ballot, but also said a request for bids should be issued close to the election so the costs for the service are as accurate as possible.