It’s going to cost you a little bit more in 2020 to take your trash to Orillia’s landfill site. However, there may not be a long lineup to get in the gates.
During this week’s operating budget deliberations, city councillors approved new “tippage fees” for those bringing items into the Kitchener Street facility.
Perhaps most notable is a decision to hike the cost of a minimum load from $10 to $15.
In a report tabled at the budget discussions at city hall, the rationale for raising the minimum fee was provided: It's to discourage residents from bringing in very small loads; staff believe that will minimize wait times.
But Coun. Pat Hehn trashed the idea.
The second-term Ward 4 councillor said she has an old office chair that needs to be brought to the landfill and is reluctant to fork out $15 to do so.
“It’s all I need to take,” she said. “There are lots of people, like me, who need to take just one thing.”
Greg Preston, the city’s manager of water and waste management, said the idea is to encourage people to repurpose such items or take them to places like Habitat for Humanity or Value Village.
Coun. Jay Fallis agreed with Hehn.
“I certainly agree $15 does seem a little steep for a single chair and it’s something we should probably work on,” Fallis noted.
Other fees are also going up - but not by much. Here’s a sample:
- The fee for bulk compost and woodchips (for commercial entities) is rising from $9 to $9.50 per ton.
- The fee for “regular garbage” is rising from $165 to $170 per ton.
- The fee to dispose of building and demolition wood is rising from $165 to $170 per ton.
Staff predict the increased fees will bring in about $50,000 more in revenue in 2020.
Preston stressed homeowners can still bring compost to the landfill for free. In addition, there is no additional charge to drop off bags of garbage that are tagged.
In what might be considered a surprise move, city councillors also approved the hiring of a new part-time position for the facility. That new position carries a price tag of $34,000.
With a proposed tax hike currently pegged at 4.1 per cent with two days of capital budget deliberations to come, several proposals for new staff were rejected during this week’s talks.
But a majority of councillors felt this addition was necessary.
Preston noted the position is especially critical in the wake of the recent closure of Waste Connections, a private waste transfer site on James Street.
“We certainly are noticing an uptake (and) a lot of new contractors” coming to the landfill, said Preston.
Even before that happened, there were often long waits to get into the site.
A report from staff notes there are currently five full-time and three part-time staffers at the waste diversion site.
“The current staffing compliment does not allow for full coverage of site operations,” notes the report.
That means, at times, staff have to be pulled from their work to cover the Household Hazardous Waste Depot or to cover “custodial duties” at the drop-off area.
Staff said this makes it challenging to meet regulatory requirements such as covering waste and turning compost.
A new part-time site attendant would allow the hazardous waste depot and other areas to be fully covered. The additional employee would also reduce overtime costs during the busier spring and fall seasons.
Coun. Rob Kloostra endorsed the idea.
“I have been down there and seen people lined up almost to the bridge to get in,” said Kloostra, noting he’s also been there and found it difficult to drop off materials because staff had not had time to move piles of trash into sorting bins.
But Coun. Tim Lauer voted against the idea. He said a consequence of the unexpected $500,000 increase to the 2020 budget due to the doubling of the city’s waste collection contract is to turn down certain wish-list items.
“We have to prioritize a few things,” said Lauer. “This can wait. I really don’t see it as a real hardship that needs to be addressed this year given the pressures we’re under. It’s something I can live without.”
However, a majority of councillors were in favour of the proposal.
All decisions made during budget deliberations are subject to ratification at a special meeting of council Dec. 9.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Between 2011 and 2014, approximately 6,500 visits were made to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot. Between 2005 and 2018, that number increased to almost 7,600 visits.
Since 2014, overall visits to the waste diversion site (over and above the visits to the hazardous waste depot) have increased almost 17 percent to almost 32,500 loads per year.