Taxpayers to save $10 million with the new contracts

Cumberland Councillor Stephen Blais is pleased that the City of Ottawa is moving forward with another fiscally responsible action with the recent award of the East Zone Solid Waste Collection contract to the in-house bid.

“As a fiscal conservative, I am pleased that $10 million will be saved with the new contracts that will take effect in November 2012,” says Blais. “Residents can be confident that the award of the East Zone to the in-house bid showed it to be the most competitive and cost-efficient option for the City.”

The in-house bid was nearly $500K lower than the nearest bidder and much lower than other companies by many millions of dollars. The direct involvement of the City in solid waste collection service delivery has proven to be a success and complementary to private-sector involvement. A previous in-house bid in the downtown area resulted in a high level of service and financial savings.

Councillor Blais previously opposed a move to bi-weekly garbage collection, as well as awarding Zone 3 (downtown) to the in-house bid without competition.

“It is time to move forward on Solid Waste collection, while ensuring value for money and quality service,” Blais concluded.