The cost of solid waste containers is increasing in Williams Lake from $65 to $105.
“Seven years ago we purchased 8,000 containers,” said Joe Engelberts, City manager of water and sewer. “We got a really good deal on that bulk order but we’ve run out of those carts.”
When the city did the initial disbursement of the garbage and recyclables containers to 3,500 homes, the cost of the carts was included on customers’ utility bills.
“Now when new houses come on line, they purchase them outright,” Engleberts said.
The city purchases 200 or 300 containers at a time from the manufacturer in Montreal, Que., but with the rise in costs and freight the total cost has increased to just over $100 a cart, Engleberts said.
Very few of the carts go missing or get damaged, he added.
“We’ve had about two stolen in a year and another half a dozen get run over when people put them out the night before.”
