Hilary Smerdon jams brakes on $1.1m Endeavour dump deal

A proposed $95k a month extension for contractors who manage dumps across the Gympie region has been put on hold after concerns were raised about councillors being left in the dark about it.

Deputy Mayor Hilary Smerdon has jammed the brakes on a possible extension of a deal with the Endeavour Foundation to manage Gympie dumps' gates and recycling services amid ongoing performance issues with the group.

Deputy Gympie Region Mayor Hilary Smerdon has thrown the brakes on a proposed extension to an almost $100,000 a month deal with Endeavour Foundation amid concerns councillors had been left in the dark on the deal.

Councillors were asked to agree to a final one-year extension with the Endeavour Group to manage rubbish dumps across the Gympie region, which they have been doing since March 2017, earning more than $6million.

The contract expires in May.

Recent concerns over performance problems with Endeavour have forced the council to engage in regular meetings with the group.

Councillors were told the final extension to the contract would allow the council to determine if there was a business case for bringing the job back in-house, or if it should be back out on the market with provisions in place to avoid the problems recurring.

The five-year deal (with two extension options) to supervise and manage dumps and waste sites across the Gympie region including Bonnick Rd was awarded to the Endeavour Foundation in March 2017 for a sum of more than $95,000 a month.

However Mr Smerdon questioned why councilors had been left in the dark over the proposed extension.

“This is a big decision for us, and this is the first thing we’ve heard bout it,” Mr Smerdon said.

“We’ve had no consultation whatsoever until today.

“It should have at least been workshopped before today.”

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Sustainability director Adrian Burns said as a “procurement decision,” extending the deal would normally be done without a “significant workshop”.

Sustainability director Adrian Burns said the council had not been able to do the work required to establish if the job of managing Gympie’s dumps should be brought back in-house as the belief was there was still one more year left for it be undertaken.

Mr Burns said the contract had already been extended in 2022 as “we were unaware there was any council concern”.

Bringing the job back under the council’s control was not something that could happen swiftly, either.

“We’ve not done that work, we’ve not been able to do that work, and we’ve never planned to do that work because we believed we had this one year extension left to do that work in,” Mr Burns said.

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There were other concerns too, including the likelihood that having it done in-house could cost more than outsourcing it.

Mr Smerdon moved for any decision on the extension to be delayed.

It was supported by the majority of councillors, with Jess Milne and Dan Stewart voting against it.

Ms Milne said delaying the decision would not amount to much given the limited options on the table.

“You’re not going to get much in two months’ time,” she said.

“I would rather see this dealt with now … there’s not time to have an alternative.”

Originally published as Hilary Smerdon jams brakes on $1.1m Endeavour dump deal