IPI Update

Yesterday, Township staff sent Council the following information update on Garbage, Recycling, and Yard Trimmings Collection. I thought you might like to read it and know what's going on.

- Garbage collection for the most part has not experienced any service issues.
- Recycling collection is improving and most of the pick-ups are now occurring on the scheduled days.
- Yard Trimmings collection has been experiencing delays in the past few weeks. This is a combination of high volumes being set out by residents and a lack of equipment being utilized by IPI.

From January 2008 the Township garbage and recycling services have not met customer expectations and have fallen short of the performance targets in the contract. This in our opinion is due primarily to the fact that IPI was successful in winning the garbage and recycling contracts for both the City of Surrey and the City of Langley which, from time to time, has resulted in the redeployment of IPI trucks from the Township to accommodate IPI’s new contracts resulting in a lesser service to our residents.

The service impacts we are experiencing is further exacerbated by the fact that since the start of the contract (August 2004) IPI has not added vehicles to the Township contract for garbage, recycling, or yard trimmings collection. This decision, coupled with significant growth, has resulted in longer days for the collection crews, increased volumes required to be collected by each crew, and in some cases not being able to complete collection on the scheduled days.

There have been many management staff changes at IPI since the awarding of the contract in 2004, the latest on May 16, 2008 when IPI’s General Manager, William McKinnon resigned. IPI has seconded Frank Andre from their Winnipeg branch as the interim General Manager until a full time replacement is found. Frank has been with IPI since August 2004.

ACTIONS TAKEN BY TOL STAFF:

Township staff have been in constant contact with IPI on an almost daily basis since the beginning of the New Year. We are required to work within the terms and conditions set out in the contract and have approached the problems in a cooperative fashion with goodwill in mind.

IPI was advised to seek additional contractors to assist with collection. They were not able to secure the services of any additional outside contractors. Therefore, TOL staff will begin investigating the possibility of establishing contracts with other companies in the event that additional services are required.

We have hired a temporary staff person to undertake field checks and respond to missed collections. All of the cost for this additional service being billed to IPI and we intend to continue monitoring IPI’s field performance until all services are back to normal.

As a result of allegations of poorly maintained vehicles, Township management has met with IPI’s Director of Fleet Services Canada to view pre-post trip inspection forms, discuss vehicle maintenance schedule, and safety certifications. The records appeared to be in order.

Subsequent to our visit, we have learned that the province’s Commercial Vehicle Inspection Branch has audited IPI’s fleet and they are still operating, albeit with some conditions that they must meet within a four month time frame.

Township staff have been assisting the contractor in producing more detailed route maps.

Occasionally, IPI has been mixing yard trimmings in with regular garbage; this is not permitted.

After numerous discussions with IPI without resolve of the problem, Township staff have notified Metro Vancouver with respect to yard trimmings being commingled with garbage by IPI. They have been instructed to inspect IPI loads and assess penalties where necessary. To date one vehicle has been penalized for commingling yard trimmings with garbage.

With May and June being the high volume months for yard trimmings collection, vehicles are unable to contain all of the discharge when compacting. This is resulting in roads being stained, odours, and residual left on the streets. TOL has commissioned its flush truck to clean the severe streets with the costs being billed to IPI.

FINES:

Fines have been assessed to IPI and will continue to be assessed until service levels are met. The fines are based on material collected by TOL staff and IPI inability to meet the monthly accuracy rate for collection.

January 2008 - $20,076
February 2008 - $23,958
March 2008 – to be determined
April 2008 – to be determined

ACTIONS TAKEN BY IPI:

Two dual-stream recycling vehicles have been utilized to collect material. These vehicles are able to collect 3 times the amount of regular (non-duel) vehicles.

The telephone system has been upgraded (line access and capacity of voicemail system). IPI has tried contacting Mr. Everett Cummings to address his concerns but have not been successful in setting up a meeting.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Continue to monitor IPI’s work performance, demand that service levels return to an acceptable level, and pass on all associated cost and penalties to IPI.
2. TOL to seek additional contractors to assist IPI with collection.
3. TOL staff will prepare the RFP for new Garbage, Recycling, and Yard Trimmings Collection contract for issue in August and award in October 2009.

On Monday afternoon's Council agenda, staff will give us another update on IPI, and have a notice of motion to bring in IPI's new general manager to a public meeting to further discuss our dissatisfaction with their service.