Collingwood's downtown businesses are worried there will be more garbage carts than sidewalk space on the main street once the County of Simcoe delivers all the new bins.
The business association is asking town council to up the pressure on the county to come up with a different plan for the mixed commercial/residential areas along and adjacent to Hurontario Street.
During Monday night’s council meeting, David Conning, chair of the Collingwood Downtown BIA expressed concerns about the new County of Simcoe waste collection contract that is slated to start Nov. 1.
Conning said that as new bins are being delivered to all residents living in downtown buildings, there are multiple sets of bins that will line the streets come the new Wednesday collection day this fall. All told, there are about 975 bins that will be delivered to Hurontario Street between Hume and First Streets.
“There is no place to store these bins. They will have to live on the street,” said Conning. “So, our beautiful downtown will be littered with these bins.”
The new bins will create issues of accessibility, cleaning and snow removal, said Conning. As they must be placed at the curb, he said he doesn’t see how the new collection trucks will manoeuvre the mechanical arm through the angle-parked vehicles to even reach the bins if they are placed curbside.
To make his point, Conning noted the building at 146 Hurontario Street will need to find space for 15 bins. Across the street at 143 Hurontario Street (currently Awear), nine bins are being delivered.
The five businesses that line Ste. Marie Street between First and Simcoe Street will need to find space for 60 bins.
“It will not be physically possible to place these at the curbside,” said Conning, noting that County of Simcoe instructs residents to place bins two feet apart on collection day.
“We risk the integrity of the downtown heritage district if we allow this program to proceed,” he said.
After Conning’s presentation, Deputy Mayor Keith Hull said he had been in talks with the County of Simcoe since February about the BIA’s concerns, but hadn’t come to a resolution on how to solve the problem.
“I’m not going to air the laundry of how we’ve arrived here tonight, but we do need to find a solution that works for Collingwood,” said Hull. “The downtown is an aesthetic jewel, and it is paramount that we preserve and protect it.”
Under the upcoming contract and voted upon by county 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 residents across Simcoe County for use starting in Nov. 2021 through a new automated collection process.
At Simcoe County council’s committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 14, councillors voted to recommend participating in a council workshop on Oct. 26 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.
Concerns heard county-wide include offering alternate size options, accessibility and storage.
A notice of motion was introduced by Deputy Mayor Keith Hull during Monday’s Collingwood council meeting calling on the County of Simcoe to immediately identify solutions in downtowns for both residential and commercial units in regards to automated waste collection.
The motion will be considered and discussed at the Sept. 27 meeting of council.
