Title
Parkland County Waste Transfer Stations - Service Levels and Hours of Operation
Proposed Motion(s)
That Council approve the service levels to align and adjust the winter/summer seasons at all Parkland County waste transfer stations and remove Sunday (summer) hours at the Seba Beach Transfer station, as presented.
Body
Administration Recommendation(s)
Administration supports the aligning/adjustment of Seasonal hours at all Parkland County's waste Transfer Stations while removing Sunday hours from the summer schedule at the Seba Beach Transfer station.
Purpose
Align and adjust seasonal hours in an effort to reduce resident confusion and reallocate staff hours to better serve the needs of both the residents and the solid waste budget. Include the removal of scheduled summer Sunday hours at Seba Beach transfer station.
Summary
Currently, the hours of opperation for the winter and summer seasons differ between the Parkland County Range Road 11 transfer station (PCTS) and all the other county rural waste sites. Rural waste transfer stations include Kapasiwin, Seba Beach, Tomahawk, Moon Lake and Keephills (listed in most to least used order). Currently, the summer season for the PCTS runs from May 1 - August 31 and for the rural sites from April 1 - Sept 30. It is the intention of solid waste operations to suggest aligning the seasons at all sites to reduce confusion amongst residents and improve the ability to communicate these seasonal changes to our visitors. In addition, the month of April (when summer hours begin at rural sites) usage at the rural sites has not shown a justification for the longer operating hours that come into effect with summer hours.
Winter operating hours at rural sites are six hours (10 AM -4PM) long as opposed to the 8 hour (9 AM - 5PM) operation of the summer months.
PCTS (Range Road 11) operates from 9:00 AM - 4:45 PM during the Tuesday-Saturday week for winter operation but during the summer season extends its Thursday night operation by three hours to close at 7:45 PM.
Proposal
* Adjust the seasonal start dates for summer hours at the rural sites to begin on May 1, along with the PCTS site. Additionally extend the summer season at the PCTS site to September 30 from the current August 31 date to align with rural sites on the back end of the season.
This would adjust all sites to a summer operating season from May 1- September 30 and will allow for better use of manpower and budget money while reducing confusion for site users.
* Cease Sunday trial operations at the Seba Beach Transfer station as resident usage has not significantly increased since inception in summer 2012. Staffing can better utilized in other areas.
Strategic Plan/Policy/Legal/Staff Implications (As Required)
Quality of life
1.3 - Parkland County will enhance the services we provide to our residents
Environment
1.2 - Parkland County will introduce practices to make operations more environmentally friendly.
Infrastructure
1.1 - Parkland County is committed to adopting best practices in the management of infrastructure.
Financial Impact:
Cost: Cost reduction/neutral
Source of Funding: Solid Waste Budget
Other
These changes will provide better customer service at more strategic times during the solid waste busy season and cut down on pointless staffing during proven slower times of year at transfer station sites. This will allow us to concentrate the staffing hours into other areas of need.