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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPWD-022-21Staff Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: General Government Committee Date of Meeting: May 10, 2021 Report Number: PWD-022-21 Submitted By: Reviewed By: File Number: Report Subject: Stephen Brake, Director of Public Works Andrew C. Allison, CAO Resolution#: GG-333-21 By-law Number: Postal Box Garbage Cans and Municipal Property Pet Waste Fines Recommendations: 1.That Report PWD-022-21 be received; 2.That the installation of garbage cans at postal boxes (super mailboxes) not be supported; 3.That, as necessary, Public Works Staff continue to respond to litter and illegal dumping complaints at super mailboxes; and 4.That the current fines for depositing dog waste on Municipal property remain unchanged. Municipality of Clarington Page 2 Report PWD-022-21 Report Overview Report PWD-022-21 addresses Council resolution #GG-070-21 that was carried at the regular General Government Committee Meeting held on January 25, 2021. Th e resolution provided direction for staff to report back on the installation of garbage cans at postal boxes and that staff also review the fines for the illegal depositing of dog waste on municipal property. This report provides Council with the findings of staff’s investigation into these particular matters. 1. Background 1.1 Concerns have existed with increased litter and illegal dumping at super mailbox locations since the date of their initial inception. Although numerous municipalities have made requests for Canada Post to provide assistance to deal with these issues, the Crown Corporation has not offered any specific action to date. 1.2 Litter and illegal dumping at super mailbox locations typically includes the discarding of unsolicited admail and invariably dog waste that some residents choose not to take home with them for proper disposal in the regular recycling or garbage waste streams. 1.3 Canada Post officials suggest that residents should let them know if they do n’t want to receive junk mail. Customers should place a note in or on their mailbox stating not to deliver flyers, catalogues, etc. For any other unwanted pieces of mail that are received, Canada post is encouraging residents to take it home with them for recycling. 2. Discussion 2.1 On occasion, resident complaints are received by the Public Works Department regarding the amount of litter and illegal dumping around Canada Post super mailboxes. The Departments database indicates that on average a couple of complaints are logged each year. 2.2 The two service requests that were received in 2020 required that staff remove a non- municipal garbage can that was overflowing and not being maintained, while the other included the pick-up of illegally dumped items such as a vacuum cleaner. In 2021, only one complaint has been received to date that involves the illegal dumping of litter and dog waste at a super mailbox location in the Yorkville Drive and Granville Drive area of Courtice. It has been noted that due to the consistent type, size and colour of th e dog waste bags at this location it may be possible that the illegal dumping is being caused by the egregious behaviour of only one pet owner. Photos of this specific complaint are provided in Figures 1 and 2 below. Municipality of Clarington Page 3 Report PWD-022-21 Figure 1: Litter and Pet Waste Figure 2: Litter and Pet Waste 2.2 At present, there are approximately 1,032 super mailbox locations within the Municipality of Clarington. While the majority of these units are situated in the main urban areas of Courtice, Bowmanville, Newcastle and Orono, there are still many that exist in the rural Hamlets and other remote areas. Municipality of Clarington Page 4 Report PWD-022-21 2.3 The installation of a garbage collection container at each of the super mailbox locations would ultimately result in the creation of a new labour intensive level of service. In order for the program to be properly managed additional capital, staffing and equipment resources will be required. Details on the associated costs to provide this program are outlined in Section 4, Financial Implications, later in this report. 2.4 For comparison purposes, the Public Works Department, Parks Section, services approximately 350 garbage cans that are located in open space areas and along trails during the busy Spring, Summer and Fall Seasons. Some priority locations such as East Beach Park, Clarington Fields, Bowmanville Valley’s 2000 and the W aterfront Beach areas of the Municipality require that cans be serviced multiple times each day. This level of service has become even more prevalent during the Covid-19 pandemic as an increasing number of Clarington residents and also visitors from abroad are getting outdoors and visiting the park areas. 2.5 The workplan that has been developed to collect the Parks garbage containers requires a total of four staff members. Defined routes have been established for the program that requires garbage collection eight hours a day during the weekdays while on weekends there are two consecutive shifts for a total of sixteen hours a day. 2.6 The addition of 1,032 super mailbox locations to the existing garbage collection program will not be sustainable or effective without a considerable increase in resources. Ultimately, garbage collection from super mailboxes will require that each location receive service at least once a week. 2.7 Based on the metrics that are known from the current Parks garbage collection program, it can be estimated that a maximum of 80 garbage cans could be collected each day. This service level takes into account travel time, weight and capacity of containers, clean-up of spilled garbage, off-loading, etc. At this rate, the program would take one full-time employee an estimated thirteen days to complete the entire Municipality. To provide the collection program during only weekday regular hours an additional 2.6 full-time staff members would be required along with the acquisition of suitable garbage collection equipment. 2.8 Assigning the collection of garbage from the super mailbox locations to the duties of other Public Works staff as they travel to and from their respective work sites would prove very inefficient and unreliable. The new service ultimately requires the establishment of dedicated routes and equipment to ensure that collection is not missed, and containers are emptied on a regular basis. 2.9 Given that a large majority of the material captured in the garbage collection containers will be paper based admail the collection program should ideally be implemented as a recycling program to be environmentally conscious. Municipality of Clarington Page 5 Report PWD-022-21 3. Benchmarking 3.1 Municipalities within Durham Region and throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) typically do not provide any type of waste collection from super mailbox locations. Exceptions to the rule, however, include the City of Markham, City of Brampton and the City of Richmond Hill that have installed recycling containers to capture unsolicited admail from the super mailboxes. 3.2 The containers used by the City of Markham are regular blue boxes that are not anchored to the ground. As a result, materials could get blown around or the blue boxes may routinely go missing. During the winter months the blue boxes may also get filled or buried with snow. As can be seen in Figure 3 below, this type of installation may only further exacerbate an existing problem. Figure 3: Blue Box Collection of Recyclable Admail 3.3 In 2013, the City of Richmond Hill began a pilot project whereby 92 permanent outdoor recycling containers were installed at super mailbox locations on concrete pads. By 2019, the number of locations was expanded to 210 and another 47 requests for containers have since been received. The permanent installations provided by the City of Richmond Hill can be seen in Figure 4 below. Municipality of Clarington Page 6 Report PWD-022-21 Figure 4: Richmond Hill Super Mailbox Recycling Pilot 3.4 Monitoring of the recycling material collected by the City of Richmond Hill from the 210 locations has shown that contamination has been a problem at some locations. Contamination typically includes household garbage as well as organics and pet waste. In addition, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has also been observed that gloves, masks and wipes are being disposed of in the recycling containers. This potentially creates a health and safety concern for the collection and sorting staff who have to manually remove the contamination. An increase in illegal dumping has also been reported at super mailbox locations where a recycling container is now present. 3.5 An analysis completed by the City of Richmond Hill suggests that the majority of super mailbox locations do not have a recurring litter issue and therefore do not require a recycling container. As a result of these findings, and also the contamination issues that have been experienced to date, staff of the City of Richmond Hill have recently recommended to their Council that additional recycling containers should not be installed. 4. Recycling Program Changes 4.1 The provision of curbside waste collection in Clarington is currently the responsibility of the Region of Durham. This service includes the source separated pickup of garbage, recyclables and organics. 4.2 For this reason, consultation has occurred with Regional staff respecting the opportunity to request their support for a Canada Post recycling collection initiative. 4.3 The Region of Durham is unfortunately unable to commit to such a program at this time due to the pending transition of the Blue Box program from municipalities to full producer responsibility as early as 2023. In effect, any initiative started now would most likely have to be cancelled in 2-3 years since the service is not considered in the draft Blue Box regulation. When the regulation comes into effect, the Region of Durham will no longer be responsible for recycling collection or the processing of materials. Municipality of Clarington Page 7 Report PWD-022-21 4.4 The Region has, however, committed to looking at integrating messaging in their varied communication programs about preventing litter at Canada Post mailbox locations. 5. Financial Implications 5.1 The implementation of waste or recycling collection containers at Canada Post super mailbox locations will have considerable cost implications. Based on the experience from the City of Richmond Hill, the capital cost to purchase a recycling container and to install it on a concrete pad is approximately $1,200 per location. 5.2 Based on Clarington’s existing inventory of 1,032 super mailboxes the total estimated capital cost to set-up this service throughout the municipality would be in excess of $1.2 million dollars. 5.3 Additional costs would also be incurred to acquire three new Haul-All garbage trucks at an estimated price of $160,000 each and to hire three staff labourers at $60,000 each. 6. Enforcement of Illegal Dog Waste 6.1 Clarington’s Responsible Pet Owners’ By-law 2013-024 requires under Section 3.23 that every pet owner shall immediately remove and dispose of, in a hygienic manner, all excrement left by the pet on any property, other than the owner’s property. 6.2 Section 4.28 of the by-law identifies that every person who contravenes any provision of the by-law is guilty of an offence and upon conviction is liable to a fine pursuant to the provisions of the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.33. 6.1 At this time, Clarington’s set fine for owner’s not “stooping and scooping” pet waste is $150. This amount is in proportion to the rates of other municipalities in Durham Region with fines ranging from $125 in Oshawa and Pickering, to $200 in Whitby and Uxbridge. 6.2 The stoop and scoop regulation of the by-law can be very difficult to enforce regardless of the set fine that’s in effect. It is common practice that pet owners normally commit the offence when nobody is watching. 6.3 Consultation has occurred with staff in Clarington’s By-law Services Section who do not recommend or support a change in the fine structure for non-compliance with the stoop and scoop, Section 3.23, of the by-law. 7. Concurrence This report has been reviewed by the Director of Legislat ive Services & Municipal Solicitor who concurs with the recommendations. Municipality of Clarington Page 8 Report PWD-022-21 8. Conclusion The Public Works Department has responded to litter complaints at super mailbox locations since they were first introduced by Canada Post. Staff’s experience with the number of complaints logged, however, is very minimal which suggests that the problem is not systemic. It would appear that most residents in Clarington are respectful of maintaining the cleanliness of their neighbourhood and as a result they take unwanted admail home for recycling. In addition, it also appears that most residents do not illegally deposit pet waste on municipal property at these locations. In light of the financial impacts that would be incurred to establish a garbage or recycling collection program at Canada Post mailbox locations, as well as the contamination issues and increase in illegal dumping problems that are expected to occur, it is respectfully recommended that the program not be supported. Litter and illegal dumping complaints around super mailbox locations can continue to be handled effectively through a combination of staff clean-ups, resident education and enforcement of littering and illegal dumping. Staff Contact: Stephen Brake, Director of Public Works, 905-623-3379 extension 2903 or sbrake@clarington.net. Attachments: Not Applicable Interested Parties: There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.