After a slight delay, residents living north of Scott Street and east of Portage Avenue saw a familiar truck pull up in front of their homes Monday as “blue box” pickups resumed here.
But since this is the first time the town has taken on such an operation in conjunction with the Koochiching County Environmental Services Division, Pat Hickerson, the town’s operations and facilities manager, is asking people to “have some patience.”
“This week and the next, I’m sure we’ll be seeing some bumps along the way,” he said.
“While I previously said to stick to the three-day pickup schedule, I’m sure we’ll be changing that a bit as we determine how long it takes to make the drop-offs at the processing plant and how much the truck can carry,” admitted Hickerson.
“Maybe we’ll have a four- or five-day schedule.”
The truck out on the streets Monday, and slated to be again Tuesday and Wednesday, was not the same one purchased by the town several weeks ago. Rather, it is the newer 2002 model lent by the now-defunct Northwest Ontario Recycle Association.
Hickerson noted the other truck still is being brought up to road safety and environmental standards, adding the town will be keeping “stringent” about all the regulations involved in transport of this sort.
He added it should be clarified that “curbside pickup” means recyclables only will be picked up at local residences, not businesses.
The town also is asking residents to strictly follow which materials are acceptable for pickup and which are not so the service will be more cost-effective.
Residents are asked to put paper products in a paper bag and place it in the “blue box.” These include paper bags, newspapers, office paper, magazines, and corrugated cardboard (trimmed to a maximum size of 14”x24”).
Unacceptable paper products include pop or beer boxes, cereal boxes, egg cartons, milk cartons, tissue paper/Kleenex, and disposable diapers.
Acceptable metal products include aluminum and steel cans. But residents are urged to ensure the cans are rinsed and any labels removed.
Unacceptable metal items include metal toys, aluminum foil, pie tins, jar lids, aerosol spray cans, and paint cans.
And only #1 and #2 plastic containers—such as water jugs and clear and green pop bottles—will be accepted. Residents again are asked to rinse these out first.
If you’re unsure of the plastic type, simply look at the base of the container for a number.
Unacceptable plastics include plastic bags/wraps, toys, styrofoam, packing materials, motor oil containers, shampoo/deodorant containers, dyed (coloured) plastic jar containers, and plastics #3-#6.
“Blue boxes” containing any non-acceptable material will be left at the curbside with a note attached, listing the reason why it wasn’t collected, noted Hickerson.
In other business at Monday night’s regular meeting, town council agreed to a modified contract to go ahead with the La Verendrye Parkway waterfront renovation project at an additional cost of $172,685.77.
Originally budgeted at $2.4 million, the lowest bid from contractors came in at $1.3 million over budget.
As first reported in Friday’s Daily Bulletin, the modified contract is a scaled-down version of the original plan.
Also Monday night, council:
•passed a bylaw approving the contract award with consulting firm Hilderman, Thomas, Frank and Cran for the “Re-Inventing Fort Frances” feasibility study;
•passed a bylaw prohibiting smoking in buildings and vehicles under the jurisdiction of the Town of Fort Frances (Mayor Glenn Witherspoon noted a decision on whether or not the town will declare all enclosed public areas smoke-free may be addressed at the Aug. 6 council meeting);
•agreed to repair the retaining wall at Pither’s Point beach following extensive damage done during last month’s flooding;
•passed a bylaw to approve a contract awarded through the tendering process for asphalt patching to Towland-Hewitson Construction Ltd.; and
•denied a request to reconsider purchasing the old Fort Frances High School.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
