CLARENVILLE, N.L. — Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information.
There’s been a change in garbage pickup for the small communities surrounding Clarenville and residents have certainly noticed.
“It was supposed to be picked up on a Tuesday and not everyone got theirs picked up,” Betty Marsh, chair of the Local Service District of Hickman's Harbour, told SaltWire on Jan. 14. “We called the Eastern Regional Service Board (ERSB) and they told us they would be back. They came back and then again on a third day and everyone’s garbage still wasn’t all picked up.”
Marsh said she’s heard a lot of complaints from people about inconsistent garbage collection.
Eastern Regional Service Board chair Harold Mullowney told SaltWire concerns are being dealt with.
“We’ve been in contact with the contractors and we’re confident the concerns will be handled in the next few days,” he said.
The new contractor for the region will start in February, he said, and they had to “backfill” the contract to collect garbage in the 20-plus communities surrounding Clarenville.
The previous contract for waste management ended on Dec. 31, leaving a one-month gap between the two. Mullowney said a gap wasn't intended but since there was, they had to find a contractor to serve as a stop-gap.
The previous contract was for Clarenville and the surrounding area, but this time the Town of Clarenville contracted its own collection.
Mullowney said the existing contractor was not interested in providing service to the areas outside of Clarenville.
However, the company disagrees. Vardy's Transportation and Garbage Removal Services, who held the previous contract, says the statement is untrue.
Dennis Vardy told SaltWire they bid on both the one-month and three-year tenders but weren't successful.
"We would've loved nothing more than to have continued service to the area," he said. "We've been doing it for a long time but we weren't the lowest bidder."
The new contract is until April 30, 2023. Once that’s in place, said Mullowney, people won’t notice a difference from the previous contractor.
“They will see no change whatsoever in their service. The service will continue, it will be seamless; the service will be the same, the price will be the same. The contractor who was the successful bidder is a contractor we’ve dealt with before — has other contracts with us.”
More communication needed: Marsh
Meanwhile, Marsh said the Local Service District hadn't been told anything about the change or what would happen when the previous contract ended.
She said she only learned there would be a gap in the schedule by reading about it in an advertisement in The Packet.
“I heard through the grapevine that the contract was finished and I heard from someone else another contractor was taking over,” she said. “They didn’t contact us at all.”
She took it upon herself to contact people impacted, she said, to spread the word. Like her, none were aware there would be changes in the new year.
She’s looking forward to the new contractor starting in February, she said, and hopes it solves the problems they’ve been having.
