At the end of last week, the regional district received approval from the Ministry of Environment for its garbage collection service.
That paved the way for the topic to be put on the agenda for the October 24 meeting so the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine board of directors can vote on it.
"We have been given approval to proceed with the adoption," said Roger Tooms, manager of works and services for the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine. If it does make the October board meeting agenda, then Tooms said he expects to recommend that the service be started this year, he added. "I'll probably recommend it commence this year unless we start to see four feet of snow [soon]."
The regional district doesn't want to launch the program in the midst of poor driving conditions and if that's the case, it would have to decide whether the service should be postponed until spring, he explained. The bylaw for the service has already been read for all three of the required readings by the board.
The board had intended to vote on adoption of the garbage collection service at its September board meeting but the lack of an approval from the ministry put that on hold.
Letters to let residents know that the expected start date of Oct. 6 had been delayed were sent out afterward, he added.
And Geier Waste Management, who was the successful bidder for the service contract after it put in its request for proposal, was also contacted by the regional district to see if it would agree to extend the award period beyond the agreed upon date.
Within Geier's bid on the contract was a time frame in which to offer or award the contract, and since that date was going to be passed, the award time needed to be extended with an agreement between the regional district and Geier, explained Tooms.
Geier replied and agreed so the award period was extended, said Tooms.