After years of asking for more yard waste pickups, Bradford West Gwillimbury residents may get two more starting this summer.
During recent budget discussions, Simcoe County’s Committee of the Whole, made up of county council members, voted to add two extra yard waste pickup dates in the summer months of 2019, at a cost of $200,000.
County council is expected to make a final vote on the issue next week.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for many years now,” said BWG Deputy Mayor James Leduc, adding he is pleased to see county staff were able to find savings in the budget for the additional pickups.
“There’s really no extra cost at all. This is going to benefit every urban area in the county.”
Additional yard waste pickups is “something that the residents have been … asking about,” said BWG Mayor Rob Keffer. “It would be good for the whole county if there’s a pickup in July and August.”
Keffer said he would also like to see a change in timing of pickups, with them starting later in the year and ending earlier because sometimes snowfall can disrupt them, but county council has no plans to address that at this time.
“I’d like to see … the pickups maybe start a little later. It would be helpful for our residents. We have a lot of gardeners” who could benefit from more pickups in the summer, he said.
Leduc and Keffer, who are members of county council, unsuccessfully lobbied a plan last term to county council that would have included 10 pickups between April and November.
Currently, there are nine pickups total in BWG — four in the spring and five in the fall.
In 2016, county staff recommended against adding yard waste pickups, in part, because of cost.
At the time, maintaining the same service costed $835,000 per year, compared to $1.3 million for 17 pickups a year, or $951,000 for 11 pickups, according to a 2016 solid waste management report.
Rob McCullough, director of solid waste management with the County of Simcoe, also told BradfordToday last summer that increasing yard waste pickups is “less environmentally friendly” because decaying grass clippings return nutrients back into the soil.
As well, the county is locked into a 2017-2022 contract with Miller Waste Systems for collecting garbage, recycling, textiles, and electronics, so any additional pickups will require a change in contract.
“I look forward to a good discussion at our meeting as our council looks to provide efficient and important services to the county,” said County of Simcoe Warden George Cornell in a statement provided to BradfordToday.
“It is important to note that county’s current leaf and yard waste practice provides universal service to our more than 138,000 households across the county. It includes nine total collections per year for each household in Simcoe County – four collections in the spring and five collections in the fall. Drop off of leaf and yard waste is also available all year long at county waste facilities.”
Leduc said he hopes to see county council approve the additional yard waste pickups next week.
“Certainly, Mayor Keffer and I will be fighting for it all the way,” he said. “It’s a positive step forward for us.”
