Iqaluit councillors intent on raising garbage fees

A short council meeting on Jan. 27, with only five councillors present, resulted in the first and second reading of a bylaw amendment that would see a ten per cent increase in garbage collection fees for Iqalungmiut. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

Iqaluit city councillors hope a fee increase for garbage collection will help pay for the incinerator included in the city’s new waste management plan, which is aimed at avoiding another fiasco like last year’s “dumpcano” fire.

A bylaw amendment unanimously passed first and second reading at an Iqaluit council meeting Jan. 27 in support of a 10 per cent increase to collection fees.

“The increase follows up on the new waste management plan council already approved, which includes an incinerator,” Coun. Kenny Bell said at the meeting.

That plan was approved last January and is expected to be in place by the end of 2016.

The rate increase, which still has to pass a third and final reading before it comes into force, means Iqalungmiut would pay $36.30 per month, per living unit, for biweekly pick-up.

Garbage collection at government buildings, which is also biweekly, would rise to $242 per month, while commercial buildings — which receive garbage pick-up six times each week — would pay $363 per month.

Although the city’s new waste management plan includes an incinerator, the city is still shopping around for one.

Iqaluit councillors also moved one step closer to securing the finances needed for construction of the future aquatic centre by granting a request from city staff to open a bank account with the Bank of Montreal.

By granting the request, “the city’s legal counsel will be able to sign off on a letter of opinion for legal compliance that is required with BMO,” said John Mabberi-Mudonyi, Iqaluit’s director of corporate services.

Four of the five councillors present voted in favour of the decision, with Bell voting against.

“I just want to say, again, that I don’t think this is a project the city can afford,” Bell said of the aquatic centre, a project he’s referred to in the past as a “Cadillac.”