SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Potential parking conflicts and what happens during winter when streets are covered by snow are some of the concerns being raised by residents as they get used to the new garbage bins distributed by the city last week.

Shane Magee/NNSL photo Carl Grabke, left, with the city, talks to Range Lake resident Dot Bergman on Sunday about the new black garbage bins that have been distributed throughout the city to single-family homes. -

Bins delivered to single-family homes last week must be left at the edge of the street with 0.9 metres of clearance on each side and 1.2 metres from the driving lane.

Those distances are for the mechanized collection trucks operated by city contractor Kavanaugh Bros Ltd. to lift and dump the garbage into the trucks.

Karen Bailey, a Burwash Drive resident, said she's concerned with bin placement come winter.

"As the snow piles up and the roads become more narrow, it will be difficult to leave them on the road and not get hit or mis-positioned because of the road positions," Bailey said.

She said she's lived in the North her whole life and has been happy with the garbage service she's had in the city.

Chris Greencorn, director of public works and engineering, said the city doesn't have plans to increase snow clearing to facilitate garbage collection.

"We did look into some Northern communities to see how they handle it and really, it's reactive," Greencorn said.

"If there's a particular problem on a street, then the city will work with the garbage contractor to do more snow removal or come up with a solution in place so residents are impacted as little as possible."

When planning the program, Greencorn said the city relied on the contractor's expertise and looked at the example set by cities down south.

The city will rely on the contractor and public complaints to identify areas that need extra attention, he said, adding that there are no plans to put up no parking signs to give more space for the carts on collection day.

The first month of the program is intended to guide residents in cart placement.

Once the cart is emptied, an employee will leave the bins where they should be placed by the resident.

After that first month, it will be up to the resident to leave the cart in the proper place.

The idea is to ultimately not have anyone touching the bins during garbage collection.

Collections with the new carts start Nov. 1.

Going door-to-door over the weekend, a Yellowknifer reporter found mostly acceptance of the bins.

"It's no big deal. People make a big deal out of anything," said Marjorie Rowe.

Sandra Wowk said she likes the new bins and hopes they work well for the city.

"There may be kinks to work out, we'll have to see," she said.

Greencorn said the bins have been tested to withstand extreme cold, which some residents raised as another concern about the plastic carts.

"It's nice to have I guess some consistency in terms of the garbage bins," Chris Gamble said. "I had some old ones that were kind of rotten, so it was good."

He said he had to clear snow for garbage collection before, so he doesn't expect the carts to be much of an issue in the winter.

The city has also started to implement a curbside composting program. Green carts were delivered in the Range Lake neighbourhood.

Collection starts Nov. 3. The program is going to be phased in across the city over four years.

Bailey, who composts in her yard already, said while it's good to see composting, she would like the city to go another way.

"It would've been nice to have other types of recycling picked up before starting with compost," Bailey said.

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