Grand Bay-Westfield will soon begin the transition to in-house snow and ice clearing operations.
The town has contracted out those services to an outside company for the past number of years.
But after a significant price jump in the latest round of bids, council recently voted to have town staff look after the services.
“I’ve always talked about what could we do in-house versus contracting out. If we’re going to grow, it’s time for us to start looking at things differently,” said Coun. Beverley Daye at the meeting.
For the past five years, AVL Construction Group of Drummond, N.B., has been looking after snow and ice clearing operations for the town at a cost of $638,600.
The company’s latest five-year bid — the only one submitted during the tendering process — came in at $1.050 million per year, an increase of $411,000 or more than 64 per cent.
According to a staff report, moving to in-house operations will cost about $160,000 a year more compared to the previous contract price.
However, overall savings are projected to be around $250,000 annually versus remaining with a contracted service for another five years.
John Enns-Wind, the town’s chief administrative office, admitted there is some risk with transitioning to in-house services.
“I’m not going to sit here and guarantee that we’re going to meet all of those targets … because there’s a lot of volatility due to reasons beyond our control,” said Enns-Wind.
Enns-Wind pointed to rising inflation rates and the record gas prices we have been experiencing in recent months.
A staff report to council noted that good winters will likely mean savings while a bad winter could see costs increase in that budget year.
“In the bid submission from AVL, risk and uncertainty is included in the price. However, any savings are solely AVL’s,” said the report.
Enns-Wind said the town will need to hire additional staff, acquire the necessary equipment, and construct a building to house it.
However, he pointed out that doing the work in-house will keep jobs in the community and will allow for improved service with direct control over resources.
AVL Construction will continue to look after snow and ice control this winter — the final year of its contract — with the transition set to begin in the 2023-24 winter season.
“We’d like to have a soft transition where maybe they do some in 2023-24 and we do some so that maybe over the course of three to five years the town takes it on,” said Enns-Wind.
Enns-Wind said they also plan to consult with the City of Saint John and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to see if they have any surplus snow removal and ice control equipment.
