File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Aaron Schulze

Weekly Organics

Kamloops trying out weekly organics collection during the winter

Nov 7, 2024 | 12:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops residents will have weekly organics collection for the winter.

During Tuesday’s (Nov. 5) regular meeting, Kamloops council voted 5-2 in favour of continuing weekly organics collection from Dec. 1 to Feb 28. It’s a shift from the bi-weekly schedule last winter when the City reported a 54 per cent increase in average daily weight collected.

Speaking in council chambers, Councillor Kelly Hall noted residents had issues with the wait times during the holiday season.

“We tried it one way, why don’t we try it another way? And then at the end of next year, let’s evaluate which is the best way, being that we’re fairly new into this system,” Hall says.

In the city’s utility report, the cost of adding weekly organics collection during the winter is estimated to be between $30,000 to $40,000 due to extra fuel required and additional contracted costs.

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“From a solid waste utility perspective, the cost is relatively small,” Jen Fretz, the city’s civic operations director, says. “We’re suggesting it come from the reserve for 2025 and we would report back in 2026 to suggest whether or not there would be a need for a rate increase in order to continue said schedule.”

Councillors Nancy Bepple and Margot Middleton were opposed, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson was not present as he did not return to vote after leaving council chambers due to a conflict of interest for an earlier item, while Councillor Mike O’Reilly is out of the country this week.