Grey Highlands council approves updated waste bylaw

The Municipality of Grey Highlands is ready to pass an updated waste collection and mandatory recycling and diversion bylaw as part of its switch to automated cart collection.

At its meeting on Dec. 7, council spent a considerable amount of time discussing a draft version of the bylaw. Council made a number of decisions and alterations to the bylaw after staff brought forward 11 recommendations for changes/amendments to the initial draft of the document.

The bylaw came to council for alterations after a public information session to gather input was held last week.

The new bylaw crystallizes the rules and regulations for the municipality’s switch from manual garbage and recycling pick-up to the automated bin/cart system approved by council several months ago.

The bin system will take effect on Jan. 2 and with that deadline looming, council made several decisions for the new collection system including: the timing for when the bins must be put out for collection and brought back in and the number of bins a multi-residential property will be allowed to have.

The full list of recommendations can be found on the meeting’s agenda here.

Notable decisions council made at the meeting include:

• The definition of an eligible property for curbside garbage pickup will be a residence with a maximum of eight dwelling units. Buildings with more than eight units will be responsible for their own waste collection
• Council also voted to include commercial businesses not located in downtown properties as eligible properties for waste pick up, if they request bins from the municipality. Deputy mayor Dane Nielsen voted against this option and suggested waste collection is a “cost of doing business.” However, the change passed 5-1 (Coun. Dan Wickens was absent).
• Council approved that bins/carts cannot be put out before 5 p.m. the day before collection day. Staff did note that enforcement of the bylaw would be complaint based.
• Council also approved that residents must bring their bins/carts in from the roadside by 11:59 p.m. of collection day. Again, staff noted that enforcement would be complaint based.

The longest discussion at the council table concerned the issue of how many additional bins, if any, would be provided to multi-residential properties with eight units or less. Nielsen suggested half a bin per unit, rounded up to the nearest whole number, however his resolution on the matter was defeated. Council later voted in favour of allowing one-third of a 95 gallon bin, rounded up to the nearest whole number, per unit. This would mean a multi-residential building with eight units would receive three additional garbage and recycling bins (six total) if requested.

This option did cause consternation, as the bin/cart system is delivering 64-gallon bins for garbage collection and 95-gallon bins for recycling. Staff will check with the contractor, Waste Management Canada, about the availability of 95-gallon garbage bins for multi-residential properties.

Council also voted to allow multi-residential properties with eight units or less to purchase three additional garbage and recycling bins (six total) if necessary. The property owner would be required to pay for the bins ($100 per bin) and the tipping fee ($250 per year).

Council voted against including a clause to allow residents to “opt-out” of curbside garbage collection.

With the draft bylaw virtually complete, council turned its attention to the rollout of the new system. Bin delivery has begun to residents in the municipality and is expected to be completed by Dec. 16. Members of council raised the possibility of putting in place mitigating measures for the early days of the new system to iron out any problems.

“Should there be a transitional opportunity at our landfills for the first six months?” Mayor Paul McQueen asked.

Coun. Nadia Dubyk said the municipality should have a plan in place for how to deal with issues.

“We are going to have hiccups along the way. How can we accommodate hiccups?” she asked.

Director of Environmental Services Shawn Moyer cautioned council about “free” days at landfills.

“We have tipping fees for a reason. We used to have a free weekend and the volumes that came in were astronomical,” he said.

Moyer also asked for patience as staff and contractors to work through the rollout and delivery portion of the process.

“This is operational stuff. We’re trying to work through all the issues. We will get them bins,” said Moyer, who noted that an external contractor is currently delivering the bins/carts with the deadline for completion being Dec. 16. After that date, residents can contact the municipality directly if they have not received their bins.

Council voted 6-0 in favour of the draft bylaw and it will come back to council for final approval at the Dec. 21 meeting.