By Jennifer Copestake
Small business owners are going to have to wait longer to find out if the city will take out their trash.
A proposal to determine the costs involved in garbage pickups for small businesses was supposed to be released this week but has been pushed back to the end of April or early May.
Capital ward Coun. Clive Doucet put forward a motion earlier this spring to reinstate garbage collection. Doucet deferred his motion and agreed to wait for the results of the study.
He says he doesn’t understand why the city is sitting on the current report.
“It’s really frustrating. I should have stuck to my guns and gone down in flames and had it passed through,” he says.
Anne-Marie Fowler, manager of solid waste services for the city, says the report has been delayed to add it to the city’s integrated waste management plan.
Doucet says he was initially confident a solution would be found, but now he’s not so sure.
Small Ottawa businesses have been finding their own ways to get rid of their trash since last July.
The service cost the city between $400,000 and $500,000 annually, and was eliminated during budget cuts.
Now, some small business owners are paying up to $2,000 annually to have their trash collected privately.
The news that the city has not yet released the report has left some business owners confused.
Alex Mortimer, manager of Song Bird Music on Gladstone Avenue, says he doesn’t know why the report would be delayed.
“Maybe they just don’t have it together,” he says.
Rob Giacobbi, owner of Wilde’s on Bank Street, says writing the report on economic impact was a waste of time and taxpayer money.
He says he’s confused as to why it hasn’t been released yet.
“Why waste the money trying to do the report? I’m a taxpayer and we need to have access to this report. Why not release it?”
Giacobbi says he believes the report will show small businesses have been paying large amounts to make up for the lost service.
Mortimer says he is “more than happy” to pay a surcharge to have his trash picked up by the city on a regular basis instead of making his own arrangements.
“One way or the other, they’re going to have to do something about it. The city streets are filled with garbage every day of the week,” he says.
However, Fowler says it is not under the city’s mandate to pick up small business trash, and it may be difficult for some businesses to get out of their current private contracts. She says having the service reinstated hinges on how important the issue is to city councillors.
“There are bigger issues we need to get on to. Our mandate is for residential services,” she says.