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mapleridge.ca
Maple Ridge This MonthJANUARY 2015
Contact us at enquiries@mapleridge.ca
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Maple Ridge, please send an email to enquiries@mapleridge.ca and one of our team members will respond to you.
INFORMED: January 2015
Council Meeting Schedule
Mayor and Council encourage everyone to attend these important
public meetings. It’s your chance to see how public policy is debated
and enacted.
Tuesday, January 13
6:00 pm, Council Meeting - Council Chambers
Monday, January 19
10:00 am, Workshop - Blaney Room
1:00 pm, Committee of the Whole - Council Chambers
Tuesday, January 20
6:00 pm, Public Hearing - Council Chambers
Tuesday, January 27
6:00 pm, Council Meeting - Council Chambers
Agendas & Minutes
Agendas for these meetings are posted online the Friday
before the meeting date. Go to mapleridge.ca, click
the link under Your Council on the home page.
Council This Week
Subscribe to the ‘Council This Week’ eNewsletter that provides a
summary of issues discussed at Council Workshop meetings. Go
to mapleridge.ca, click the link to ‘Notify Me’ and sign up today.
Council Meeting Videos
If you are unable to attend a Council Meeting, Public Hearing or
Committee of the Whole meeting you can now watch these meetings
on your computer 24/7. The entire unedited meetings are posted
two to three days after the meeting. The video is indexed to the
agenda package so that you can watch them in their entirety or click
through by agenda item. Go to mapleridge.ca and click on the video
link at the centre of the home page. In addition, Council meetings
are now broadcast on the internet via live streaming using the
same technology used for our live budget Q&A sessions. For more
information about the live stream go to the ‘Council Meetings’ page
at mapleridge.ca.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Garbage, Recycling and Composting
Time for a Little ‘Trash Talk’ in Maple Ridge
ENGAGED:
Your 2014 – 2018 Council
AD: 6797363 City Maple Ridge MRTM 20150109
RUN DATE: FRI., JAN. 9
SIZE: 7x14
PUBLICATIONS: Maple Ridge News
art: rcw rep: Lisa
COLOUR: cmyk
Out: 11:24ja7rcw 10:44ja8rcw
Cor:1:00ja8rcw
There’s a lot of discussion about garbage in Maple Ridge right
now as the Metro Vancouver Organics Disposal Ban starts to
roll out in 2015. Here’s some basic information to help you
understand what this will mean for you.
First, and foremost, citizens need to understand that this ban is
directed at the haulers of garbage. While it will have an impact
on home owners, the inspections and fi nes will be levied to the
haulers of garbage, not individual homeowners.
Here are the fast facts. The Organics Disposal Ban started on
January 1, 2015; however, there will be no fi nancial penalties
levied against haulers for the fi rst six months of the program.
There are a number of local haulers who are already offering
organics pickup to their customers and the expectation is that
all private garbage companies will eventually offer this service;
otherwise they will be subject to fi nes as the full program rolls
out.
Currently the Metro Vancouver region as a whole is in the
education phase of the program as many strata properties
and commercial food vendors (restaurants and grocery stores)
are still exploring the ways that they can separate organics to
comply with the ban.
In Maple Ridge our community has been a leader in promoting
recycling, long before other communities jumped on the
bandwagon, and our system is still one of the best on the
continent. For more than 40 years, the Ridge Meadows
Recycling Society (RMRS) has expanded their program
resulting in a diversion of over half of the waste that used to
go in the dump. The organics disposal ban will have no impact
on your recycling pickup whatsoever. One thing our partners at
the RMRS have asked us to do is remind you that cardboard,
while it does compost, should not be put in ‘organic waste’ but
instead recycled.
The fi nal part of the discussion relates to composting and
food digesters. There are a number of citizens who already
use composters or food digesters to handle their organics. The
folks at the RMRS have some expertise in this area, as it is
something that they have been promoting for most of the four
decades they have served the community. Depending on your
circumstances, this may offer an alternative for you.
Before we talk about how this will impact you, as a homeowner,
here’s some important background information. First, the cost
that your hauler will be charged for dumping organics is less
than the cost for the rest of the garbage. Haulers will be paying
$66 a tonne (1000 kilograms) for organics versus $113 for
other garbage. If you look at all of the solid waste that you
generate in your household, you should be able to recycle
about 60%. The remaining 40% is almost half organics. To put
it another way, if you fully embrace the separation of organics,
the remaining volume of ‘garbage’ left to dispose of will be cut
by half.
So, let’s get to the thing that you are really thinking about –
how does this impact me?
If you currently use the waste transfer station to drop your
garbage off you will fi nd that there is a place to drop your
organics separately from the rest of the ‘garbage.’ The minimum
fee for dropping organics is $6 compared with the $10
minimum for garbage. We should note that the ‘organic’ plastic
bags that are being marketed by some companies may not be
compliant with the organics ban. Please talk to the folks at the
transfer station to get the best advice on how to collect your
organics.
Homeowners, strata buildings and businesses will need to
negotiate with their commercial haulers for their organic
and garbage pickups. Here are some things to consider. You
will have two items to collect at your home – organics and
garbage. Your hauler will be paying less money to dump your
organics, so there should not be an exceptional increase in
the costs associated with pickup other than the costs of a new
receptacle for the organics.
Some folks are a bit concerned about the potential impact of
organics relating to smells and attracting vermin. You currently
place these organics in your garbage, and have a pickup,
so there should be no difference in the impact on your lives
based on proper handling and pickup. Each homeowner, strata
and business is in control of their own pickup, you can tailor
your pickups to your circumstances. You may fi nd that you
want once a week organic pickup and twice a month garbage
pickup. As you fully separate recyclables, organics and trash,
you should see where your ideal mix is and adjust your service
accordingly.
One important piece of advice that applies to any service that
you are sourcing - shop around. Some prices include the cost
of containers; some ask that you buy the containers at the
outset. This is something that is frequently not thought about
when sourcing prices for garbage disposal.
The City of Maple Ridge has added new information on the
‘Garbage, Recycling and Composting’ page that can be
accessed under the ‘Accessing Services’ tab on the homepage
at mapleridge.ca. The new information is under the heading
‘Organics Disposal Ban.’
Meet Your Newly-Elected
Council Online!
In early December, just before the inaugural Council meeting,
we took photos of your newly elected Mayor and Council. This
included the offi cial portraits that hang in the lobby of Council
Chambers and the offi cial portrait of our Mayor that hangs
along with the photos of all past mayors.
Those images are now on display at City Hall and online using
the ‘Your Council’ link on the home page mapleridge.ca.
The ‘Your Council’ link also has the 2015 meeting schedules
available as a downloadable PDF document as a list or in
calendar format so you can plan to attend or watch Council
Meetings online via the live streaming service. There is a link to
the agendas and reports that Council is provided as they carry
out their duties.
We hope you’ll take the time to explore this section of the City
of Maple Ridge website. There’s a ton of great information and
you can even sign up for alerts using the ‘Notify me’ link on the
homepage so you get email or text alerts when new content is
available in the sections you choose. Our website, mapleridge.
ca, is your ‘virtual’ City Hall!