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CITY OF VANCOUVER POLICY REPORT
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Date: |
September 13, 2004 | |
Author: |
Aby Sharma | |
Phone No.: |
604-871-6059 | |
RTS No.: |
04318 | |
CC File No.: |
3756/1203 | |
Meeting Date: |
September 30, 2004 |
TO: |
Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets |
FROM: |
General Manager of Engineering Services |
SUBJECT: |
Garbage Container Licence Program - Fees and Policy Changes |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Engineering Services, in consultation with Legal Services, negotiate with the Waste Management Industry and modify the Garbage Container Licence Agreement (CLA) to require:
i. That the current user property address be displayed on containers on City property.
ii. That the 10 day compliance period for cleaning graffiti after receipt of notice be reduced to 3 days to be consistent with other third party equipment on City property.
B. THAT Engineering Services increase the annual lane Garbage Container Licence Agreement (CLA) permit fee from $99 (fee set in 2002) to $106 per container beginning January 2005 based on the inflationary increases from 2002 to 2004 and anticipated increase in 2005.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Engineering Services recommends the approval of A, and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
On April 25, 2002, Council approved an increase in the annual permit fee for garbage containers on City property from $65 per container to $99 per container and approved the creation of a full-time Street Use Inspector for the garbage education and enforcement program. The $65 per container fee was first set in 1992.
On June 14, 2001, Council approved an anti-graffiti policy for amenities such as garbage containers on City streets.
In 1992, Council authorized the execution of the licence agreements between the City and the participating companies which implement the City's garbage container permit program.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to modify and amend the Garbage Container Licence Agreement (CLA) to improve lane hygiene and aesthetics and to provide inflationary increases in the CLA permit fees.
BACKGROUND
Under the CLA, companies that place commercial garbage and recycling containers on City streets are regulated and charged a permit fee for using that space. At present there are approximately 2,000 commercial waste containers on City streets (lanes). The current version of the CLA was implemented in 2002 and Staff have been monitoring the effectiveness of this agreement. Two of the requirements relevant to this report are:
(Section 14.c.ii): `Companies' displays, in clearly visible letters and figures, at least five centimetres high, the name and telephone number of the Company and a unique bin identification number, but does not display any other markings unless approved by the City Engineer
(Section 15.a): `Companies' remove all graffiti from any specified Container within 10 days after receipt of oral or written notice from the City Engineer unless the Company implements and carries out a weekly inspection and cleaning program acceptable to the City Engineer
The current permit fee is $ 99/year and was set in 2002. The City has not increased the permit fee since 2002.
DISCUSSION
Since the implementation of the CLA in 2002, staff have been trying to effectively manage and enforce the agreement. User identification is an ongoing challenge when trying to educate users and enforce against the numerous problem containers which are overflowing, messy, a fire hazard etc. Currently there is only a unique identification number (customer account number) displayed on the container. This number is set by the garbage company and
is provided to Engineering Services along with information about the user. The information about each container and user rests on a database in Engineering Services. It can be next to impossible for other City staff (Fire & Rescue, Police, etc.) to identify the user after working hours and on weekends if there happens to be a problem such as a fire or hazardous situation. A unique bin identification number on each container is proving inadequate to meet the City's needs.
It is recommended that all containers on City property be labelled with the User(s) unit #, address and first 3 letters of the street (e.g. `Unit # 10-500 Richards Street' would be labelled as `10-500 RIC'). This identification on the container would be a requirement under the Container Licence Agreement. The benefits of labelling each container include:
· Quick identification of the user to facilitate the timely enforcement of the CLA by City staff including Engineering, Fire and Police personnel at all times of the day;
· More effective exertion of peer pressure by neighbours and BIA associates who would know the users of each container. Currently many container users are anonymous. If the user is clearly identified there would likely be more responsible container use.
The City of Vancouver's Graffiti Management Program has been effective in substantially reducing graffiti on building frontages and lanes. The program has worked cooperatively with community groups, BIA's, business associations and local residents to achieve this goal.
However, graffiti on garbage containers still remains an eyesore for local businesses and residents. Currently, container companies are required to remove graffiti once they have been notified by the City and have 10 days to comply with the order. The City would like to reduce the 10 day period to 3 days, so that the response time period is consistent with other third party equipment on City property. This will improve the appearance of the containers because graffiti is removed promptly.
The CLA permit fees are set to recover costs of the Container management program and enforcement of graffiti on containers. Engineering services proposes increasing the fees to reflect inflation since 2002 and into 2005. The proposed fee for 2005 reflects the CPI rates in 2003 and 2004 (4.65%) and the rate forecast for 2005 (2.75%). The CLA requires the City to give permit holders at least 3 months notice of any amendments prior to renewal of the agreement. This translates to a deadline of October 1, 2004 for a fee increase for January 2005, when the CLA's are scheduled to be automatically renewed.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The recommended increase in fees will result in an additional $14,000 in revenue in 2005. The 2004 budgeted revenue from the CLA fees is $168,000.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Changes to the CLA are recommended after consultation with the waste management industry and Legal Services.
CONCLUSION
The recommendations of this report will provide for more effective management of the Container Licence Agreement and an inflationary adjustment to the permit fees associated with the agreement.
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