Maple Ridge council wants to look at how to poll residents about city garbage pickup before determining the costs of providing such a service.
Currently, the City of Maple Ridge, unlike other Metro Vancouver municipalities, doesn’t provide curbside garbage pickup.
It doesn’t have a city-wide contract for that.
Homeowners have individual contracts with one of four private companies for that service, garbage and food waste.
A plebiscite to ask residents about switching to a city service would cost about $90,000.
But that is a waste, of time and money.
As would be any tax increase to add such a city service, given ongoing regional and municipal recycling efforts to reduce household waste.
Some on Maple Ridge council suggest that private service is cheaper than the city could provide.
And many responsible residents can already barely fill one can of garbage a week.
Residents have the ability now to haul waste to the transfer station in Albion if they don’t have private pick-up, and can take green waste to the recycling depot next door, if they don’t compost or have a solar cone.
The city has not provided a report on illegal dumping, nor on the number of residences that do no have private garbage service, nor on recycling compliance rates.
Past reports indicate that the annual cost of city garbage services in neighbouring municipalities to be close to $300 a year per household.
Maple Ridge still doesn’t know what such a service would cost here, and now it wants to figure out how to ask people about it first?
This issue seems more political than practical.
It has to make economical and environmental sense. So provide that information first.
– The News