Changes may come to Canandaigua's trash pickup
CANANDAIGUA — For several reasons — including the safety of city workers — Canandaigua City Council is weighing a change in how trash is picked up.
Councilmembers on Tuesday night may vote on spending $467,135 to purchase new garbage and recycling toters, as well as a public engagement effort that includes information on the program.
If City Council gives the OK, City Manager John Goodwin said work to implement the program would begin in the fall.
“If all goes according to plan, we should have all the garbage recycling containers distributed by the end of the year,” said Goodwin, with the intent of starting the program in 2023.
As part of the new system, all single-family dwellings and two- to four-family dwellings will be issued a 64-gallon garbage toter and a 96- or 64-gallon recycling toter per dwelling, the size as requested by the customer.
Historically, the city had not provided garage toters; the new toters will be mechanically lifted, saving wear-and-tear on workers who have to manually lift the containers filled with trash.
Goodwin said as much as 14,000 pounds a day is lifted on average.
“It takes a lot of toll on one’s body when you’re lifting garbage in the back of truck,” Goodwin said.
Recycling is picked up mechanically; however, those toters are failing and require new mechanical lifts to mitigate injuries taking place from that, Goodwin said.
“The number one goal is to provide better quality of life for the men and women who collect our sanitation and make their job a little easier,” Goodwin said.
Councilmembers have been discussing the program in committee for several months, and Goodwin said their questions and concerns on the rollout have been addressed.
“I think we’re in a good position,” Goodwin said.
Garbage will only be collected in the toters. If more trash has to be collected beyond what fits in the 64-gallon provided toter, a second — or more, if needed — toter will be provided for a fee, Goodwin said. That fee would be $37.50 per quarter.
This pay-as-you-throw program is an effort to reduce waste headed for the landfill in Ontario County, which is scheduled to close in five years, Goodwin said.
The new program includes the elimination of the current solid waste fee. Tax-exempt properties that use the city service would have to pay for the garbage toter.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Garbage pickup in Canandaigua may be changing soon
