Morinville’s waste collection might be in for another shakeup this month due to a slip-up in a bylaw – one that could see the town jump into bi-weekly waste collection.
Council passed first reading of its waste management bylaw last week, which includes the 2015 rates for trash and recycling pickup. The rates remain unchanged at $18.90 per month for homeowners.
Town residents who use Morinville’s waste collection service would ordinarily have seen a rate increase due to a 2.2 per cent rise in the consumer price index and an increase in Roseridge’s landfill fees, said public works manager Claude Valcourt. But since the town has a $70,000 surplus due to a dip in tipping fees and lower-than-expected waste production, no increase is needed.
Condo and apartment dwellers renting metal bins will still see a 2.2 per cent hike based on the CPI increase, Valcourt added.
Morinville’s waste collection system took a big step last month by switching to monthly waste collection for organic waste for the first time. The town collects organic waste weekly from May 1 to Oct. 31 and monthly from Nov. 1 to April 30.
Valcourt said in an interview that he was still collecting stats on the effects of the switch, but didn’t expect it to be a huge issue as there was no yard waste during winter months.
Last week’s draft bylaw also proposed to switch the town to biweekly (every other week) collection for non-compostable, non-recyclable garbage.
This was actually an error, Valcourt told council – the draft was supposed to keep the town at weekly collection, and the proposed rates were calculated on that basis.
But several councillors recalled they had originally thought of going to biweekly during their debate of the 2014 waste bylaw back in February. Back then, council decided to hold off on the switch until 2015.
Coun. Rob Ladouceur asked Valcourt to bring stats on the costs of biweekly trash collection to the next council meeting.
Biweekly trash collection is meant to force residents to recycle and compost more, Valcourt said in an interview. It will also lead to lower waste collection rates.
“Residents are still bringing lots of garbage on their own to the landfill,” he noted, though it’s not clear if this was due to low recycling and composting rates or high trash production. It will be up to council to decide if it wants to change the collection rate.
The waste bylaw returns to council Dec. 9.
