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Kincardine council wants you to reduce, reuse and recycle your garbage,
so it is handing out only half as many bag tags next year.
In committee-of-the-whole last night (Nov. 11), council agreed to allow
each household only 26 bag tags per year, instead of 52, meaning half
the amount of garbage to the landfill and/or more money in revenue
through increased sale of bag tags.
Public works manager Jim O'Rourke also said that his department wants to
develop a process in which residents pick up their bag tags and sign for
them, rather than the current system of mailing out the tags.
O'Rourke said the reduction in bag tags could result in an increase in
revenue of about $300,000 next year. Meanwhile, the operating expenses
and revenue budgets for solid waste management for this year, show
expenses at about $400,000 above revenue, as funded from the tax rate.
In addition, he said, the increase in revenue generated by the drop in
"free" bag tags would achieve the operational reduction of 6.5% for
public works as targeted for the 2010 budget. It would promote the three
"R's" and reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill, he said,
plus it would help the municipality fall in line with the provincial
guideline of 50% waste diversion from the landfill by 2012. Currently,
Kincardine is at about 35%, said O'Rourke.
Deputy mayor Laura Haight, chairperson of the public works committee,
said she believes people will do more reducing, reusing and recycling,
rather than spend the money on 26 more bag tags next year. "The time is
right for a complete user pay system for garbage," she said. "If we
reduce the number of tags, we educate people about composters and
recycling, and we help divert waste from the landfill site."
Councillor Randy Roppel pointed out that there is no such thing as
"free" bag tags because the taxpayer is footing the bill for garbage
collection. "Switching to 26 tags per year is not going to bother me one
bit," he said. "But it will bother low-income families, people on fixed
incomes, and young families with children. We have to realize that; they
are a large part of this municipality."
Ultimately, he said, the taxpayer will have to cover the shortfall
through taxation. The proposed program could lead to burn barrels, and
garbage thrown into ditches and into the bushes. "I don't support this,"
he said. "A lot of people are going to suffer because of this."
"I have no problem with this," said councillor Marsha Leggett. "If we
make tags available, then people take advantage of the situation. I'm
fine with 26 tags. Our household usually puts out a bag of garbage every
two weeks, which is okay if there are only two people in the house or
for seniors, but larger households maybe need 52 tags per year. I like
the idea of having to sign for the tags too."
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O'Rourke said that the cost for bag tags, according to a report from May
26, has Brockton at $1.50/bag, Huron-Kinloss at $2/bag, Saugeen Shores
at $1.50/bag, South Bruce at $2/bag, Kincardine has 52 free bag tags,
and other municipalities have a two-bag or three-bag limit, after which
residents must purchase bag tags at a cost of $1.50 to $3. Extra bag
tags in Kincardine cost $2 each.
Councillor Ron Hewitt agreed with Haight, saying it's time to encourage
the three "R's". However, he wants to see more subsidy toward recycling
and composting programs because he doesn't believe the municipality will
see a lot of extra revenue through the sale of more bag tags. "I ask
council to support this change," he said. "Let's try it. It will make
our municipality more 'green'."
Councillor Kenneth Craig praised council for a step in the right
direction. "I've been saying for a number of years that we shouldn't be
giving away any bag tags."
Mayor Larry Kraemer said his family purchased a green cone digester and
it has cut in half the garbage output to the landfill. "I think this
program (26 bag tags/year) is manageable," he said. "If we see a 30%
drop in waste collection, we'll see huge savings there."
He asked about the logistics of having thousands of residents coming to
the municipal office at the first of the year to sign for their tags.
"Should we maybe send the 26 out this year and make our constituents
aware of the new program?" he asked.
"There has been a lot of abuse of the current system," said Haight.
"People have come in saying they lost the tags or they did not receive
them. We've been giving away massive amounts of extra tags."
She said that casual staff have been hired to help with the annual
mail-out of the bag tags in December. "We could do the same for the rush
we expect this year," she said. "Hire extra staff to deal with it and
advertise it as well. The cost to have staff available is similar to
sending out the tags."
O'Rourke agreed, saying the annual mail-out is always a lot of work. He
suggested contacting recreation director Karen Kieffer and having the
Ward 1 residents signing for, and picking up, their tags at the Davidson
Centre, Ward 2 at the municipal administration centre, and Ward 3 at the
Underwood office.
"We can have composters and blue boxes available there at the same
time," said Haight.
"So, will people be using those large orange garbage bags now, if they
have only 26 bags per year?" asked Leggett.
"There is a limit on the weight of the bag that will be accepted,"
Haight said. "We'll need to educate the public on this new program."
The committee agreed, and later in the meeting, council gave final
approval to the new system of 26 bags/year per household, and residents
will have to sign for their new tags.
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