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MILTON P /Nice to meet ya Sparky the fire safety mascot of the Milton Fire Department was a big hit with the younger set at the recent Moonlight Magic down- town street festival. The new and improved Sparky is compliments7p, , of sponsorship by Roxul. Photo by N rvin Milton Fr GRAHAM PAINE ]Oer Generations 2001-7 mil -I By RICHARD VIVIAN The Champion Companies providing garbage collection and recy- cling services in Halton are swapping contracts. The Regional planning and public works committee approved a motion Wednesday that will see companies provid- ing garbage collection and recycling services trade places. A tender from Canadian Waste Services (CWS), which now provides garbage pick-up, was accepted for the recycling contract at an estimated cost of $3.9 million annually. The contract includes collec- tion, processing and marketing of the materials starting January 2002 for six years. The Region also receives 25 per cent from material sales. Similarly, a tender offer from Halton Recycling Ltd. (HRL) was accepted to provide garbage collection at an esti- mated cost of $5.8 million. HRL currently provides recy- cling services throughout Halton. Though supported by staff and eventually approved, the motion did raise some ques- tions from councillors. Budington- Councillor Mike Wallace said he was concemed about CWS's bid on the recy- cling contract. Its bid wasn't the lowest and therefore shouldn't be accepted, he told the committee. "I just have to question that." The HRL tender came in $375,822 cheaper than the CWS tender. Commissioner of Planning and Public Works Patrick Murphy explained the CWS tender offered differences in service from HRL that will benefit the community. When considering tenders, staff gave 75 per cent of con- sideration to cost, while 25 per cent was based on performance cntena. According to a report authored by Mr. Murphy, CWS scored much higher in the per- formance criteria. "Canadian Waste's tender demonstrates a proposed service that will pro- vide greater customer service for the residents of Halton," the report reads. "Canadian Waste proposes to use a greater num- ber of vehicles, which will pro- vide for a large window of opportunity to monitor the routes and ensure collection is completed on time." Regional council is expected to formally address the matter tomorrow. Waste, recycling companies swap Region contracts