Rocky View County (RVC) council gave first reading to a new Langdon Solid Waste Collection Bylaw on Sept. 23, but the bylaw will be revised by administration before being brought back to council at a future meeting.
The bylaw will replace the previous Langdon Garbage Collection Bylaw, and will be the final step in ensuring that Langdon’s new curbside collection program can be enforced.
“The previous bylaw was very difficult for residents and staff to understand, so we felt we needed to repeal it and work with enforcement to make it as simple as possible for our residents,” said Joanne Walroth, solid waste and recycling advisor with RVC.
“Our goal is always to educate, not to be punitive, so if we have a proper guideline in place, we can go into the community and work with individuals who have a problem complying with the bylaw.”
The curbside collection program for the hamlet was approved by RVC council in April, and changes to the Master Rates Bylaw reflecting a new fee were approved on July 29.
Beginning on Oct. 2, residents will be paying $11.18 for their monthly garbage collection – a slightly lower rate than the previous fee of $12.50 per month, thanks to the new black and blue carts.
Recycling adds a fee of $8.82, for a combined fee of $20 per month for the new program.
“Whenever haulers use a cart program, they see drastic decreases in worker’s compensation rates, and they’ve passed these savings onto us immediately,” Walroth said.
Some of the wording in the new bylaw raised concerns for Councillor Lois Habberfield who pointed out that on Schedule “C,” which notes minimum specified penalties, a $250 fine could be incurred if a resident disposes of an “animal carcass on property.”
“Does that mean burying your pet on your property?” she said.
“If the intent is, don’t put dead animals in your cart, it needs to say cart. This says property. That, to me, has to be checked.”
Habberfield also brought up the $125 fines for failing to store garbage or recyclable material in an approved cart and for failing to properly store the collection cart with the lid closed.
“The wording of this schedule, I don’t think is appropriate,” said Habberfield.
“A $125 fine for leaving the lid open, is that realistic? If you aren’t going to enforce it, don’t include it.”
Walroth said the inclusion of the specified penalties was the recommendation of RVC enforcement, but that more work can be done to make improvements.
Currently, the penalties are “just a general provision put into bylaws.”
Langdon resident Bill Kowalchuk was present at the meeting to address council with some of the concerns locals have with the new program. The main issue he presented was the size of the carts, as he said residents anticipated a larger cart for garbage.
“It started off with a bait-and-switch, is what we thought it was,” he said.
“We were given a survey where we could see the product, the bins we thought we were going to be getting and the prices we were suppose to be getting, and based on that, people said to go for it.”
However, now that residents have seen the new bins, some are unimpressed with the changes to the system. The previous bylaw indicated that a “container” – cans, bags, boxes, bundles, and bins, used for temporary storage of garbage – had a maximum volume of 121 litres each. Each single- family dwelling or duplex was allowed two containers of garbage per week.
According to Kowalchuk, the amount of garbage allowed has changed from 240 litres of garbage, or two bags, per week, to 120 litre of garbage, or one bag.
“It’s being forced in, and even though we were given a vote on it, it was just an open viewing with a survey on whether we like it or not,” said Kowalchuk.
“We’ve got dayhomes here that are going to take this little bin and put in a week’s worth of diapers, and it just doesn’t work. It wasn’t well thought out, it was pushed over, and we got strong armed.”
According to Area Councillor Rolly Ashdown, it was never the intention of council to provide any kind of misrepresentation, but simply to use the survey as an opportunity to learn what type of collection program the community would like to see in place. Langdon residents opted for a two-cart system, and received a black garbage cart with a capacity of 120 litres and a blue recycling cart with a capacity of 240 litres.
“It has to be sorted differently, but it’s actually more waste than they could have before. The larger cart is for recycling, obviously to encourage people to recycle,” he said. “That doesn’t carry as much cost, and is more environmentally conscious. It’s a good program.”
Deputy Reeve Boehlke made a motion for the new Langdon Solid Waste Collection Bylaw to be given first reading, which passed with a 8-1 vote with Ashdown in opposition. Councillor Earl Solberg moved to proceed to second reading, but the motion was withdrawn.
“Administration recommends that council turn the bylaw back over to administration,” said RVC County Manager Kevin Greig. “We will take another look at it, but it is not a given that we will have the bylaw back to council by the next meeting.”
Ashdown made a motion to refer the bylaw back to administration, and the motion was unanimously carried.
He further moved to direct administration to provide council with a report after 90 days of the new curbside collection program, which was also carried unanimously.
