The City of Airdrie will continue to offer special community-wide wood chipping to residents after the Christmas holidays only, after council unanimously approved accepting a report from the Environment Advisory Board (EAB) that showed the cost to offer regular wood chipping is prohibitive.
According to information provided by Waste and Recycling staff, the cost to purchase a wood chipper capable of handling the volume of material the City could expect to receive would be $110,000.
The cost to rent a similar piece of equipment and hire an operator would be $135 per hour.
Residents can dispose of branches and other wood material at the Airdrie Transfer Site for a fee of $40 per metric tonne year round. Small branches can also be placed in the green organics recycling bins.
Auditor selected
Airdrie City council unanimously voted to appoint PriceWaterhouseCoopers as auditor for the next three fiscal years, 2014 to 2016, with an option to renew for an additional two years at their regular meeting on Oct. 20.
Alderman Ron Chapman said “PriceWaterhouseCoopers have been doing our audit for 15 years. I’d endorse keeping them.”
Director of Corporate Services Lucy Wiwcharuk said the contract to provide auditing services had been sent to tender with all submissions due by Sept. 10.
Proposals were reviewed by three city staff members with PriceWaterhouseCoopers scoring the highest on all criteria.
