Putting lids on garbage bins sounds like a simple process — not so in St. John’s.
There remain about 50 to 60 concrete bins in the city without lids because the bins were made by city staff many years ago, and none of them fit a lid that can be purchased “off the shelf.”
Many of the bins have different dimensions.
It means city staff have to put out tenders for lids to be custom-made to fit the various sized bins.
Staff is currently preparing the tender documents and the city is aiming to have lids for all of the bins by spring of this year.
Whether the city meets that goal is “highly dependent on delivery lead times,” deputy city manager Lynnann Winsor wrote to Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary in an email.
O’Leary provided councillors with Winsor’s update on the lids’ status at the regular Monday council meeting.
“I think this is an important issue because it is a contributing factor to the amount of garbage that we see in the downtown area and other areas where it’s blowing out of these containers,” O’Leary said.
“A lot of the issues that have arisen about garbage overflow, especially in the wintertime when snow builds up, is due to the fact that we don’t have covers.
“If we can … get those lids on then that’s one less opportunity for garbage to blow around in our windy city.”
In addition to lids for the concrete bins, city staff are also working to replace the plastic grey bins with metal bins, also with a goal of replacing them by springtime.
Winsor wrote that the plastic receptacles are “suffering the same fate as the parking meters,” noting the city needs more secure bins that are more resistant to vandalism.
These will gradually be replaced, starting in areas around Mile One Centre and then heading down Water Street and Duckworth Street.
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