The debate over what to do about illegal garbage dumping in Simcoe turned into a small dumpster fire at town hall last week with one councilor decrying the “immaturity” of resurrecting an issue she thought had been buried last month.
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“We were adults when we did this,” said Coun. Linda Vandendriessche, one of the main proponents of denying the Downtown Simcoe BIA the $7,000 it requested to continue paying a local contractor to haul away residential trash from outside storefronts as needed.
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“The immaturity to come back now and (reopen the debate) to me is a bit difficult,” Vandendriessche said at the Feb. 13 meeting, adding she was “taken aback” to again be talking about trash weeks after passing the budget.
Norfolk County council spent hours during January’s budget talks puzzling over how to handle scofflaws who leave trash bags on the sidewalks of downtown Simcoe after collection day, or dump tables, toilets and other bulky items without calling the municipality to arrange for pickup.
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A majority of councilors voted to deny the funding and leave the BIA to solve the problem as its members see fit, including dipping into the organization’s reserves to pay the contractor.
Reversing course so soon would make it impossible to see if that decision was the right call, a fired-up Vandendriessche told councillors.
“I will not be supporting any of this nonsense,” she said. “We should let this play out.”
Mayor Amy Martin argued it made fiscal sense to restore the funding and let the BIA manage the problem for the county.
“They can do it faster (and) cheaper than we can,” said the mayor, noting enforcement is a challenge since the garbage is often dumped at night and some out-of-town landlords are unresponsive.
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County staff previously told council the arrangement with the BIA worked well and cost taxpayers less than what the county pays to retrieve the trash.
It also typically takes municipal staff longer to respond to calls, which discourages residents and tourists from visiting downtown, said Coun. Doug Brunton, who represents Simcoe.
But a “frustrated” Coun. Adam Veri was having none of it, criticizing the idea of subsidizing a private contractor and pinning the blame on landlords who do not crack down on negligent tenants.
“This is just a matter of people dumping their garbage and not taking care of their own neighborhood,” Veri said.
To Veri, giving more money to the Simcoe BIA is unfair to businesses in other communities, though public works boss Andrew Grice said the problem of illegal dumping is “unique” to downtown Simcoe.
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“The garbage is there. It’s being picked up by our staff at a more expensive rate than the BIA can do it,” Martin said.
In response to the funding cut, the BIA decided to stop collecting illegally dumped trash as of Feb. 1, instead encouraging business owners to make use of the county’s bulky item pickup program. Three calls have come in so far.
Both Simcoe-area councilors joined Martin in voting to restore the funding.
“Let’s continue what’s been working until we have a way to crack down and stop (the problem),” Coun. Alan Duthie said.
But Martin’s motion was defeated in a 5-4 vote, leaving the BIA out of the garbage collection business for this year.
JP Antonacci is Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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