Last month, Callander took out the trash in a big way, councillors learned at their last meeting.
The annual Fall Clean Up took place on October 25, a one-day garbage gala where residents can dump larger items in various bins at the operations’ yard. Those bins are then hauled off to the Merrick Landfill down the Sand Dam Road in North Bay. Callander doesn’t have a landfill of its own.
This fall, eight bins were filled with general waste, mattresses filled another three, and there was enough wood to fill four bins. Each year, the Fall Clean Up costs around $14,000, which covers dumping fees and staff time.
See: Eliminate fall clean up? Callander weighs options
Councillor Grant McMartin gave kudos to the operations staff for their role in making the day successful, noting, “It’s a big job, and our residents really look forward to it, and it keeps a lot of the garbage out of the rural areas.”
That’s one of the points to the event, which takes place in Spring and Fall – to reduce illegal dumping in the less-traveled parts of the municipality. Another purpose is to provide a service to residents by saving them a long drive to the landfill.
There were some concerns at council that some folks were making a few too many trips to the bins, and perhaps were taking advantage of the service.
However, as Operations Manager Tim McKenna noted, “In a lot of cases it’s one friendly neighbour helping other neighbours bring their material to the dump. So, we’ll see the same pickup truck bring five loads, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all from their own household.”
McKenna also noted, “We didn’t see a lot of construction debris, but we did see an incredible amount of mattresses this fall.” Another big-ticket item was tires. Lots of tires collected, McKenna detailed.
Better in bins then in the bush.
Mayor Robb Noon emphasized, “We want to keep improving on this and come up with new plans on how to administer the day.” There are some concerns council and staff want to discuss before the next clean up.
For instance, there needs to be more clarity about what items people are allowed to bring. Also, there were some delays and overflow of bins as there was only one rig driving full bins to the landfill.
There are also concerns that some materials might fall off the trucks or trailers, settle on the drive, and potentially puncture some tires. Residents also mentioned to staff it would be nice to have a two-day drop-off, and to add a composting option. These and other issues will be hashed out at upcoming council meetings, with the goal of making your spring cleanup all the better.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
