Bay Roberts offers one last chance to remove bulk garbage

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Bay Roberts will issue removal orders to 24 property owners who have not disposed of their bulk garbage.

At council’s September 8 public meeting, Director of Protective Services Greg Squires said the property owners either did not book to have their bulk garbage collected, put the garbage out after the town-wide pickup, or put out garbage that would not be taken by the Eastern Regional Service Board, which operates the waste recovery facility in Harbour Grace.

Squires asked council to authorize removal orders for the properties. This is the second time such orders have been issued to the owners of the properties. If they do not comply this time, the Town will remove the bulk garbage and charge the cost to the property owners’ tax accounts.

Councillor Perry Bowering noted the new system for bulk garbage pickup requires people to have a card to use the ERSB waste recovery site. Many people, including Bay Roberts Mayor Geoff Seymour, have experienced difficulty in getting the cards. Bowering asked whether the removal orders would allow residents enough time to get the cards.

Squires said the removal orders will allot the recipients two weeks to get rid of the bulk garbage. The previous orders also allotted two weeks, meaning the residents will now have been given four weeks in total to rectify the issue. 

Chief Administrative Officer Dave Tibbo said if the residents of the properties have any concerns, they should contact the Town.

“It may seem like the Town is being unreasonable there, but we do one bulk cleanup a year,” said Mayor Seymour. “It’s in the spring. You have to book an appointment. The vast majority of people booked their appointment, their garbage got picked up. There were some people that struggled with the system, and we went around and we identified those and we did a second cleanup on our own dime because of the issues people had with the new automated system. What we’re seeing now is stuff that was put out even after that.”

Seymour said it is now the residents’ responsibility to get a permit and take any additional bulk garbage to the ERSB waste recovery facility in Harbour Grace.