Trash talk: 'We are not a one-size-fits-all county,' says Leduc

During a marathon special council workshop on Tuesday afternoon, a majority of county councillors voted in favour of allowing alternate waste cart sizes for residents who request them as part of the County of Simcoe's new waste collection contract.

Staff estimate the requests for swaps could begin starting in January 2022, with the actual swaps starting to take place mid-February 2022. The county is moving to its new automated cart system Nov. 1 - a move that has sparked a flood of concerns from residents about the size of the bins. 

As part of the workshop, councillors also voted on a variety of operational aspects related to the decision, which will see about seven new full-time equivalent employees hired; they will be tasked with providing technical support, bylaw enforcement and additional staff for Service Simcoe.

According to preliminary cost estimates, offering alternate cart sizes could cost between $2 and $4 million for the first year, with ongoing annual operating costs estimated at $1.1 million.

In the report, Rob McCullough, the county's director of solid waste management, estimates the actual number of exchanges that would be required would range between five and 12 per cent of serviced units.

During council conversations on the matter on Tuesday as part of a more than six-hour workshop, multiple councillors expressed concerns about maintaining the one-size-fits-all approach after hearing concerns from residents, business owners and other interested parties.

Collingwood Deputy Mayor Keith Hull kicked off conversations before the vote by stating he is pro-cart.

“The vast majority of people who have expressed concerns... are simply (upset) about the size of carts,” he said. “I would like to turn the focus of conversation to, what can we do to expedite the process where the public has made it abundantly clear that cart does not work.”

“The issue is that we – and I take full responsibility as someone who supported this from Day 1 – didn’t take into account the uniqueness of many of the communities within our communities,” said Hull.

To deal with the transition, councillors voted in favour of making one full-time equivalent position permanent and extending two temporary part-time contracts at Service Simcoe, who will be tasked with dealing with initial exchange requests.

In order to perform cart exchanges through delivery, one additional "straight" truck, one pickup truck and ancillary equipment must be procured, as well as 3.6 additional full-time equivalent positions to perform deliveries.

In order to deal with an anticipated increase in bylaw calls, one additional permanent part-time bylaw officer would be hired and their associated vehicle must be procured.

Lastly, one more permanent full-time equivalent position will be added to administrate a financial cost-recovery system.

Bradford West-Gwillimbury Deputy Mayor James Leduc said he was disappointed in the 27-page report.

“Why didn’t we have this information prior to making this one-size-fits-all decision? Why do we, all of a sudden, need more trucks, more bylaw officers when we’re talking about a decision we were looking to make anyway?” asked Leduc.

“We are not a one-size-fits-all county,” he said. “I like to say we’re one Simcoe County with 16 different neighbourhoods. We need to look at this from that point of view from now on.”

All the details decided on during the meeting are also subject to contract negotiations with Miller Waste Management, who oversees the overall contract, and Rehrig Pacific, who was contracted to manufacture the carts. Final costs for the change will also be determined based on those negotiations.

Based on decisions made on Tuesday, cart size exchanges will be processed through a virtual self-service system which Rehrig Pacific has already developed and would provide to the county, likely to be implemented by January 2022. If residents would rather make arrangements through phone or email, they will be able to do so through Service Simcoe.

Information on how to request a cart exchange will be provided by the County of Simcoe leading up to January. Actual exchanges are expected to start taking place in mid-February 2022.

Requested cart exchanges will be processed free of charge up until July 2022. If a home changes ownership, an initial cart exchange will also be free of charge. However, after July 2022, cart size exchanges will cost $50 per bin exchanged, and will be limited to once-per-year exchanges.

If a homeowner chooses a size that doesn’t fit their actual waste needs, there may be some consequences.

For example, if a resident opts for smaller carts but regularly puts out overflow garbage or recycling, the county is reserving the option of telling the homeowner they must size up.

While 360L is the largest size for recycling, homeowners that find they need more cart space may be eligible for a second recycling cart. However, this option is only available if the homeowner already has a 360L recycling cart.

A second organics cart will also be available should a household determine they have that need.

Second garbage carts are not permitted, which is intended to encourage diversion.