During budget deliberations in December of 2019, Moose Jaw city council approved an annual program to recycle used concrete and asphalt by crushing it so it can be reused for road repair projects.

Now, the Department of Public Works and Utilities has so much of the crushed materials on hand, that the city hopes to bring in some extra income by selling the excess aggregate. As of October of 2020, the city had crushed 25,000 tonnes of concrete and 7,500 tonnes of asphalt and saved approximately 50% in avoidance of additional purchasing. City administration took the issue before council last Monday night, Aug. 9, in order to fix a rate to sell the material.

The recommended rates are $26 per tonne for concrete, $28 per tonne for asphalt, $234 for a tandem truck of concrete, and $280 for a tandem truck of asphalt. Proceeds from the sale - which could reach as high as $860,000 - would go into the solid waste/utility reserve to be repurposed in the future.

"These materials have a wide range of uses," commented Darrin Stephanson, director of Public Works & Utilities, "mostly in road building and maintenance, which is what the City has been using it for internally. Our feedstock is quite extensive so we have years and years of supply."

The program is based on a similar one used by Regina and City Hall hopes to give local contractors the option of a competitive price without having to drive to the Queen's City.

The recommendation raised a lengthy discussion between several city councilors and the administration, mainly around the pricing of the crushed aggregate. Coun. Jamey Logan said he felt that the price should be higher so that it would be closer to the rates of local contractors who also crush their own aggregate.

"Cypress Concrete for example," said Logan, "would charge considerably more. That might be because they're selling smaller batches to homeowners, but I'm worried that we might be stepping on the toes of someone in the city who does this for a living."

Councillor Kim Robinson pushed back, arguing that the prices set by the city were based on selling to contractors, not individual homeowners.

"What worries me about increasing the price is that we often hear, 'things are cheaper if you just go to Regina.' Furthermore, [Cyrpess] gets quite a bit of contract work from the City of Moose Jaw. That's more of their income source than selling a bit of aggregate. So I support the recommendation as is."

Ultimately, the recommendation passed with all of city council in favour except for Coun. Logan. A quarterly report will be presented to city council for the first year of the program to ensure that the rates continue to be reasonable and fair.