Dear Editor,

[Re: Waste collection fees rising in the City, 91Ô­´´ Advance Times, Oct. 30]

I read the article of the City council thinking they want to bring garbage collection in house. What a mistake!

As a long time City taxpayer and familiar with the absolute lack of ongoing vehicle maintenance of City-owned vehicles, I urge the City to not go down this road.

Garbage packers are extremely high maintenance vehicles, drive train, live hydraulics and heavy loads, etc, so ya can’t just have one. When it breaks down, you just can’t go to the garbage truck rental store and grab one for a few days or weeks. And if ya can, $$$$$$ will be the result.

That being stated, the City doesn’t have any facility to maintain its vehicles from street sweepers another high maintenance vehicle, to man-lift trucks, dump trucks, support vehicles, and fire apparatus. Don’t forget lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers, portable generators, water pumps, etc. – all this equipment should be maintained in house. Instead it’s all dealt with at retail pricing.

The City vehicles in general get sent out for repair to retail shops ($$$) and perhaps some service work at the same time. Maybe they get fixed correctly, maybe not. Then ya have to fight to get them repaired and perhaps pay again!

So to have this council think they want to take on solid waste removal is short sighted or perhaps inept.

Build and staff a vehicle maintenance shop for the City-owned vehicles and maintenance equipment. It’s long overdue.

Just because there’s only about 80+ kilometres of road in the City of 91Ô­´´, the need for ongoing vehicle maintenance is real and required.

Council should be ashamed operating the City vehicles with little to no ongoing preventative maintenance.

Do not buy us garbage packers unless you have a City-owned and operated repair facility with staff trained and familiar with these specialized vehicles – garbage trucks, fire trucks, street sweepers, etc.

M.F. Campbell, 91Ô­´´ City