The Town of Jasper is considering some operational changes to the transfer site, as a way of cutting costs.

Currently, the municipality pays Parks Canada, which runs the site, about $160,000 a year to drop off the town’s waste. That equates to about 65 per cent of the overall operating cost for the site. 

With that figure in mind, council and administration are considering leasing the land from Parks, so the transfer site can be municipally operated.

The first step toward transferring the responsibility for the site is getting a legal opinion to determine what the municipality’s legal obligation would be, since the land is contaminated, Christina Seidel, a waste reduction consultant, told council during a presentation last week.

“What is your legal obligation? That’s the question you really need answered,” she said.

Seidel was hired by the municipality to develop a Solid Waste Management Strategy, complete with recommendations.

She said if council is satisfied with the legal opinion it receives, it’s suggested that the municipality start negotiations with Parks Canada as early as 2012.

“It seems logical,” she said. “You’re the largest user, so it seems logical that you run the transfer station.”

Seidel said there was a report done by Parks Canada a couple of years ago with cost saving recommendations that the municipality could use. Some of the ideas include reducing the station’s public hours of operation, increasing automation to reduce staff, and contracting some services out.

Following Seidel’s presentation, which also included information and recommendations on how the municipality can further increase its waste diversion, Coun. Mike Day asked Seidel what the “Plan B” is, if the municipality doesn’t take over the site.

“Your primary alternative to the transfer site is status quo, leave it as it is,” she said. “I don’t think anybody really wants that. Parks Canada doesn’t want that. You don’t really want that. So that would be a real Plan B.

“Plan C, one option you do have, would be possibly to shut down the transfer station and haul waste directly to Hinton,” she said.

Currently, the municipality takes waste to the transfer site and then it ultimately ends up at the landfill in Hinton. 

Another cost saving measure the council and administration are considering is becoming a member of the West Yellowhead Regional Landfill Authority, which would reduce the cost of tipping fees.

Jasper pays $46 per tonne right now. As a member of the authority, that cost could drop as low as $28 per tonne.

Ken Quackenbush, director of environmental services, said he doesn’t know yet what the rate would be or what the buy-in cost would be, as it hasn’t been negotiated.

Those unknowns had Verne Balding, director of corporate and legislative services, questioning whether it’s a good business decision.

“Were we to join, there would be some obligations for those long-term requirements. Those requirements, at least as far as I understand, are not yet fully understood,” he said, giving the example of the future cost of closing the landfill. “Is this really a cost savings or is it a deferral of costs?” he asked Seidel.

She said it’s the responsibility of the authority to put money aside from tipping fees for post-closure costs, but those costs are poorly understood, so it is something to be wary of.

She noted that between now and the closing of the landfill, there will likely be rule changes.

“We can estimate post-closure costs now fairly well,” she said, “but how are they going to look in 25, 30, 40 years? You’ve got to weigh those out. 

“You may be better off remaining an outside customer and not worrying about all those things. That’s a decision you’ll have to make.”

Hinton council voted unanimously to allow Jasper to join the authority during a meeting last month. The municipality still needs support from Edson and Yellowhead County in order to be a full partner.

“Because of your low volumes of waste, seriously, you might be better off not (joining the authority),” Seidel told council. “It really depends what they want to charge you up front. If there’s a huge buy-in fee upfront, you probably don’t want to join.”