At a meeting of Thompson council March 29, the city approved a retrofit for the Thompson Recycling Centre (TRC), which is currently undergoing a planned shut down until April 12, at a price tag of $310,000.
The expenses are being covered by government grant money city taxpayers ponying up $50,000 in the 2010 budget, which council expects top introduce and pass in the near future.
Part of the retrofit will include four planned shutdowns - the first of which will run until April 12 and started March 20. In the past the TRC has shut down for more urgent emergency issues, such as a rodent mice infestation, a dirty lunchroom and other worker health and safety issues, including protective clothing, which caused workers to walk off the job in December 2008.
The $310,000 it will take to retrofit the TRC is being divided up into several different areas. A new sort line will cost $202,230; new Bobcats will cost $77,100; a new office and fixing the south wall will cost $13,500; a hopper and conveyor cover is set at $7,875; and two new overhead doors will cost $6,554 and $3,554.
According to city manager Randy Patrick, the project is expected to be about $1,000 over the original budget.
The TRC has continued to ship excess recyclable materials, including ones that are contaminated, to the local garbage dump, which is operated by the Local Government District (LGD) of Mystery Lake off Highway 6 south of Thompson.
According to deputy mayor Harold Smith, who sits on the TRC's board of directors, the planned shutdown is happening now because of some government grant money needing to be spent by March 31 or lost. The grant deadline was the driving factor for deciding when the retrofit of the centre would take place. Part of the retrofit will include a new office area to be constructed over the next couple of months, and additional storage, which will be added this summer.
The second part of the project, according to Patrick, is being funded by the Build Canada Fund and Community Places funding. All in all, $277,000 has been approved for the second phase of the project and another $25,000 is being sought from Community Places funding. The money will go towards a $56,000 office; a $15,000 foundation; $5,000 for Manitoba Hydro expenses; $15,000 for water and sewer; $115,500 for the new cold storage building; $7,000 for a safety rail for the TRC's bailer; $3,500 for a glass crusher; $20,000 for a milk container crusher; another $20,000 for a loading dock; $6,100 and $2,187 for two overhead doors; $8,000 for other services; $20,000 for hopper cribbing and $7,000 for interior storage.
Patrick says that should funding not be forthcoming from Community Places, or if only a portion of the funding is made available, the project will be reduced to stay within budget.
