
LANCASTER – A majority of South Glengarry council feel residents should be at a two bag garbage limit soon than later in order to extend the life of the township’s two dump sites.
That would be done through a phased-in reduction starting with four bags in January, three bags by June and two bags at the end of December next year. The current limit is eight bags a week, which Coun. Martin Lang calls “ridiculous.” The proposed timeline by council is shorter than the staff recommendation of two bags by July 2023.
During a special council meeting Monday afternoon (Aug. 16), Coun. Sam McDonell was the only outlier who says he would have preferred to see a three bag limit.
There would possibly be exemptions for very large families and those with special needs. Coun. Stephanie Jaworski, head of the environment committee, has been tasked with having the committee figure out those exemptions and how they would be addressed.
“If we are taking with one hand, we better be giving with the other,” McDonell said.
That give back would be weekly single-stream recycling – you throw everything in one container for curbside pickup every week.
Everyone on council agreed with the weekly recycling as Coun. Martin Lang quipped that the “biggest pain” was figuring out what week it is to put out your blue box under the current bi-weekly collection system.
Like Cornwall did in 2019, South Glengarry is looking for companies to bid on a seven year contract. CAO Tim Mills explained that seven years is the typical lifespan for a garbage truck.
All of South Glengarry’s waste management contracts are set to all expire by the end of the year.
Based on SD&G’s regional waste management study, there are five years of space left in the North Lancaster landfill (closure in December 2025) and 13 years at the Beaverbrook landfill (closure in December 2033).
Council hopes to have results from the request for proposals (RFP) in a couple of months, which should include pricing for various garbage and recycling options.