The hot topic of garbage and organic waste collection will make its way to Essex.
Essex council will be presented with a report at their meeting this evening on the County's Regional Waste Management initiative.
If Essex supports the County of Essex by-law, it would transfer all power of the lower-tier municipalities to the County with respect to the collection of waste and the delivery of such waste.
The Town of Essex already offers organic waste collection, which is picked up bi-weekly with yard waste, however if council approves the report, the Town would be required to separate the materials for separate pick-up's.
The new change would see bi-weekly garbage collection, weekly organic collection, bi-weekly leaf and yard waste collection from April to November, and monthly white goods collection.
Approval is being sought now, so that in the case of approval and uploading, a tender can be issued in late fall of 2023, to allow any potential suppliers to order the necessary equipment to be prepared for a 2025 contract start.
Sherry Bondy, Mayor of Essex, says after recent storms they were able to reach out to their local garbage collectors to ask for increased service, which may not be an option by switching to the County.
"We're also talking about local jobs, and local employment. So, is it going to be any cheaper to outsource to a place like Toronto, where they have to bring in bodies, where they have to bring in trucks? I'm not convinced. I need to see numbers, and data, before I vote yes on this contentious issue."
She says there are pros and cons, but Essex is unique when it comes to collection.
"Our farm land is not assessed into our garbage collection, it's just a farm property with no house, so they don't put out garbage, so we don't assess them for garbage pick-up. And if that goes under the County, we're worried about the best practices of the County with those farm properties being charged."
Bondy says she's not crazy about the idea because there is no concrete financial's on the change.
"It's assumed that there could be a cost savings, but I don't want to base my vote on assumptions. You know, I've learned a lot of hard lessons and we know that if we pass along and upload to the County, we have really no control at the local level of our level of service."
If council opposes the initiative, as the Town currently has a separate rate for the recovery of garbage costs, this would remain status quo.
This by-law will require that at least four of the seven local municipalities, comprising at least 50 per cent of the electors in the County pass resolutions in support of the change.
On September 5, Windsor City Council also approved the new model for the frequency in garbage collection, as well as how garbage will be sorted throughout the city.
Essex council begins at 6 p.m.