Residents voicing concerns over changes to Moose Jaw garbage pickup

The City of Moose Jaw is phasing out back lane garbage pickup and phasing in curbside pickup.

It’s a change not all residents are on board with.

Citizens Advocating for Sensible Taxation (CAST), a local ratepayers association, held a meeting in Moose Jaw Tuesday night to give residents an opportunity to voice their comments and concerns to city councillors.

“The biggest concerns seemed to be individual issues with the transition,” CAST member Terry Gabel said. Gabel said about 50 residents attended Tuesday’s meeting.

“Other people were concerned about seniors not being able to move the bins, there were concerns about neighbourhoods in the city that were just not designed for it; the landscaping in the front, the parking are going to cause a lot of problems.”

Some residents want to keep their garbage pickup system as is, because it is simply less hassle.

“I can be away and I don’t have to look at any schedule and I just have to keep putting my garbage out there and putting my recycling out there, and I don’t have to worry about (having) it out the night before or early morning or anything like that,” Moose Jaw resident Philip Warren said in an interview with Global News Wednesday.

“Now I will have to move it to the front of the street and with moving it to the front of the street there’s (the issue of) parking, you have to have it out at a certain time of the day, and then you have to retrieve it… so that’s just extra work for everybody in Moose Jaw.”

Warren added that he understands the city’s reasoning.

“It would be so nice if they leave it back there, but I can see why they’re coming to the front of the street,” he said.

“Back alley is perfect for me, but maybe not for them.”

The city will be implementing the changes is five phases in different areas of Moose Jaw. The first two phases are being introduced this August, the next two in September and the fifth and final phase will be in October. About 15 per cent of the city will be keeping back alley garbage pickup, due to certain infrastructure challenges.

The city will also be introducing bi-weekly garbage pickup starting in October.

The City of Moose Jaw’s Municipal Operations Manager Darrin Stephanson says the changes are part of cost-saving measures implemented by city council that will help avoid a tax increase.

“It initially started out with a look at our solid waste utility and getting that viable. It is running in a deficit position, and we are facing a potential looming closure with our landfill within the next couple of years, so we need to have the money and ability to move into expanding or replacing that landfill so we can continue to provide the service to our citizens, and the money just simply isn’t there,” Stephanson said.

“(With) the two changes, our initial estimate is approximately half a million dollars a year that we expect to save on the operating side through these changes. So it’s a fairly significant piece of money that represents a couple percentage points tax-wise to the taxpayers that has been averted.”