County councillors will be considering some tweaks in direction when it comes to the county’s new waste collection plans, which are slated to start up as of Nov. 1.
During Tuesday’s (Sept. 14) County of Simcoe committee of the whole meeting, council will be considering a report from collections manager Willma Bureau on the possibility of waste cart size changes, and adding an October council workshop to address a variety of concerns brought forward by residents and councillors over the past few months on the one-size-fits-all waste bins.
“There have been a number of resident contacts through the Service Simcoe Contact Centre and directly to county representatives, requesting consideration of smaller sized carts,” Bureau notes in her report to council.
“Although the number of these requests is minor... staff are looking for council’s guidance on whether a further report and discussion leading to consideration of utilizing smaller cart sizes should take place earlier than planned (ahead of the results of the planned user survey),” she wrote.
Under the upcoming contract and voted upon by councillors in late 2020, the decision was made to obtain 240-litre garbage carts, 360-litre recycling carts and 120-litre organics carts for all property owners across Simcoe County for use starting in Nov. 2021 through a new automated collection process. Bins have been arriving at homes across Simcoe County since the beginning of August, with all bins planned to be delivered as of Nov. 1.
A petition started by Collingwood resident Dave Dickson made the rounds on multiple community Facebook groups from Collingwood, to Wasaga Beach, to Essa Township and beyond in a grassroots effort to push for change to the bin sizing offered for automated waste collection.
The petition – addressed to County of Simcoe Warden George Cornell – currently sits at about 2,200 signatures and is growing. To read our story on the petition, click here.
Other residents across Simcoe County have also raised similar concerns. Back in April, a smaller bin pilot project was approved by county council for a condominium development in New Tecumseth to start in November.
During a waste management workshop held on July 27, Bureau said a public survey would be done in the spring of 2022 to determine if there is still an appetite for varying cart sizes.
At that time, director of solid waste management Rob McCullough said the county wanted residents to experience the carts for three to six months before releasing the survey.
The report being considered by councillors on Tuesday notes that more than 1,300 emails and phone calls have been dealt with by county staff on the issue, clarifying that not all the correspondence has been negative.
When it comes to logistics of any potential change, Bureau notes in her report that the earliest a significant cart exchange could begin is Spring 2022 based on the supply of carts from the manufacturer and the complexity of implementing the change. The earliest a plan could be provided for council’s consideration is October 2021.
“It is recognized that major change rarely occurs without a period of adjustment and apprehension by some,” wrote Bureau. “The upcoming changes to curbside collections will result in some issues regardless of how well the changes are planned and communicated to the public.”
County of Simcoe council starts on Tuesday at 9 a.m., and is immediately followed by their committee of the whole meeting. The virtual meeting is streamed live on their YouTube channel here.
