Pointe-Claire to bring back weekly garbage collection

Pointe-Claire Mayor John Belvedere is asking city council to back a proposal to restore weekly garbage collection.

If approved Tuesday night, weekly garbage collection would return in June — and fulfill one of Belvedere’s campaign promises.

Council will vote on the measure, item 30.08 on the council’s agenda, at city hall. The item, which awards a contract of  $127,047.38 to a contractor, is for 13 additional trash pick-ups.

“The citizens pay taxes, basic service just like snow removal and this is what the citizens have asked for and this is why we’re going to go back to doing it once a week,” Pointe-Claire Mayor John Belvedere told Global News.

It’s a reversal from three years ago, when the city voted in favor of semi-monthly garbage collection year round.

Then-mayor Morris Trudeau defended the idea at the time, hoping it would lead to an increase in recycling and composting.

But many residents at the time balked at the new schedule, arguing too much household waste was left sitting around for too long, attracting wild animals and maggots, especially in the summer months.

Brent Cowan, a Pointe-Claire city councillor, also supports the decision to bring back weekly trash collection during the summer months.

“My belief, and that’s what I ran on, is we have to restore a balance,” Cowan told Global News.

The vote is scheduled to occur during the council meeting at 7:30 PM at city hall.