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Bamford talks trash about poor pickups

Ward 4 Councillor Pat Bamford vented his frustration about the shortcomings of city garbage collectors on Monday evening. Just before adjournment of the council meeting, Bamford sternly stated his position.

Ward 4 Councillor Pat Bamford vented his frustration about the shortcomings of city garbage collectors on Monday evening.

Just before adjournment of the council meeting, Bamford sternly stated his position.

“When we have a schedule for garbage pickup, it should happen on the day it is scheduled. It should be the mantra of our waste management folks. There should be no excuse, short of three feet of snow” said Bamford.

“What’s happened in my ward is a number of occasions, and the most recent on Thursday, where garbage was put out and some of it was not collected. There was a notification on the city’s website saying it was supposed to be collected on Friday, and it wasn’t. So it was basically sitting there for five days.”

Bamford says this is not just an issue in Ward 4, but in all areas of Timmins.

“I saw another notice about Melrose. The garbage was not picked up on Friday but was then scheduled for Saturday. It’s causing a lot of concern in the city. I hear it everywhere. They blame the system and the new garbage bins. To me, it has nothing to do with that”

He offered up some advice for the waste management team.

“Do what it takes to pick up the garbage on the day that it’s scheduled. Pick up the garbage. I don’t want to hear anymore about vehicle breakdowns. This is a problem. Deal with it. Do we need another truck? I don’t know? I thought the fifth truck was going to do it. Management should look at all the possible scenarios and have a plan. Authorize the waste management director to implement that plan immediately” said Bamford.

The councillor then compared this issue to other municipal services.

“When a transit bus breaks down, what happens? Transit sends another bus immediately, with a driver. They don’t leave the passengers on the bus for five days. The route isn’t cancelled. If a fire truck breaks down on the way to a call, we don’t cancel the fire. We do whatever it takes to get the firefighters to the scene. This is a core service. People in our community are paying huge dollars. They see two major services, snow removal and garbage pickup. Sometimes the snow removal isn’t to their liking, and lately the garbage pickup hasn’t been to their liking. I don’t understand why we can’t get this done right” added Bamford.

Mayor Tom Laughren weighed in on the matter.

“I don’t think anybody is going to disagree with you. But, I think we have a great garbage system. There are some hiccups that the fifth truck was supposed to solve. What I’m going to ask is for the engineer to come back with a report on October 20. As well as email all members of council about what happened last week and the solutions going forward” said Laughren.

Monday, October 20 is the next city council meeting.

It will be the final meeting before the municipal elections.

(PHOTO: Councillor Pat Bamford speaks during Monday night's council meeting. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday)