Posted by Magda
The city wants to change directions, slightly, on the new compost plant.
From the beginning of the process to rebuild the plant, staff have been clear they want to leave the door open to hire someone to design and build the plant but let the city operate it. Now, they've changed their minds.
The change seems significant. The request for proposals was delayed in part because of this debate: the consultant writing the request assumed the city would want the winning company to actually operate the plant, and was informed part way through that the city wanted both options.
The change is a response to some convincing arguments. Legal firm Aird and Berlis told the city having the company operate the plant would likely save the city money, improve performance, cut risks, and give better access to cutting edge technologies. And technical consultant CH2M Hill said most plants in Ontario are operated by outside companies.
Along with the change, staff have extended the deadline for applications to Sept. 26. I wrote recently about the fact the number of interested companies is dwindling -- it'll be interesting to see how many applications come in. In the meantime, a council committee will decide whether to approve the change next Friday.
Except for the PM's flippyfloppy on to have or not to have...,all's now well with the world---MAGDA's back!!You were missed;there was a huge vacuum in Guelph's bloggy environment during your well-deserved hiatus-I can just see that Pikersgill guy tapping out comments as we read.WELCOME back Magda;sorry you didn't win a medal at the Olympics-better luck next time 'round :-)
Posted by: De Profundis | August 28, 2008 at 06:09 PM