The survey of 400 residents, half with curbside garbage collection and half with back lane collection, showed 85% of respondents preferred back alley pickup to curbside and even if the city was going to save over $150,000 a year, 51% of those who took part in a telephone survey want their garbage in the back lane.  The results of the survey were presented to Moose Jaw City Council Monday night as they continued to debate what to do with the half implemented program.

You may recall, the program was started last summer as a response to a report from city administration as the engineering department looked at the future life of the landfill along with any cost savings or efficiencies in waste collection. Curbside was viewed as a way to save money, enhance service and move towards the modern industry standard used in major cities.

The initial decision was met with major pushback and yet zones 1-4 made the transition last summer with good results, according to administration but councillors changed their minds and became lukewarm to the idea they had approved just a few months before. Councillor Don Mitchell tried to limit the areas of front lane collection to neighbourhoods designed after 1960 but the motion never gained traction with the other councillors.

Councillor Chris Warren ended up making a motion in September that city administration effectively called a program killer, tacking on five "challenge criteria" that would remove a block from front street collection; blocks where more than 20% of homes do not have front street driveways, blocks where there is an excess of on street parking, blocks where the road widths are defined as narrow streets, blocks where on street parking lanes do not exist and blocks where more than 20% of the homes contain retaining walls and are more than one step from the yard to the curb.

The debate that followed stopped any further roll out of the program and the matter was simply delayed until 2018 budget talks to allow more time to review the initial conversion areas. Upon hiring a new communications manager, the city then embarked on a telephone survey to gather opinion and the results were overwhelmingly in favour of back lane collection.

Despite the results, city council has decided to press on with the switch to curbside collection but the difference this time compared to last year according to Mayor Fraser Tolmie, will be a gradual change with more information.

"I think that was part of the shock value that came, the confusion, the lack of understanding and that's part of the thing that we need to communicate." said Tolmie following the meeting. "We need to be better communicators to the community about the picture that we as a council see."

The restriction criteria that Councillor Warren introduced last fall are no longer in play as the majority of council felt they were too broad for the elimination of an entire block for collection. It was also indicated that many areas of the city that have had curbside collection for more than just a few years, could be removed from the program due to the nation of that motion.

With zones 1-4 already on curbside garbage collection, zones 5-9 will star the gradual transition to curbside June 1st with a heavy emphasis on communication with each zone according to the mayor.  More details are expected to be released as city administration start to map our routes and investigate any factors that might prevent an easy transition.

Councillor Don Mitchell was astounded that they were going to ignore the survey and what residents have been saying.  Tolmie realizes there will be push back but believes with a slow, educated approach the change can happen better than last year when the move was made in haste.

The meeting also touched on the bi-weekly collection schedule that council adopted last fall as another cost savings measure. Several councillors had raised concerns from residents in advance of the hot summer months.  Rather than make a decision and add to the confusion even more, council will wait for a further report from administration on a master plan and public awareness campaign. In light of the decision to go ahead with full curbside collection, the master plan will be pushed forward in an attempt to address concerns before the summer.

In approving the continued roll out, council also approved an increase to garbage collection rates where we'll now pay $7.25 per month. Council had already given approval to an increase to commercial tipping fees that will see local rates increase to $69 a tonne and out of town user rates increase to $89 a tonne.

It was in the 2018 budget talks that we learned there are several issues at the local landfill that are going to cost us more in order to keep it open.  A new agreement with employees is one factor but dealing with broken garbage bins and maintaining the landfill are two others. In a January report to council, Operations Manager Darrin Stephanson explained the City of Moose Jaw has been in violation of provincial regulations that need to be addressed immediately such as the landfill leaking leachate, a bi-product of waste decomposition, and they weren't covering the garbage with enough topsoil often enough.