Wellington County isn’t interested in expanding curbside collection to additional mobile home communities.
At the March 30 meeting, county council approved a solid waste services committee recommendation to decline a request from a currently unserviced mobile home community.
The county will continue to provide recycling cart service in mobile home communities should they request it, however any future requests for curbside collection services in mobile home communities will be declined, states the committee resolution approved by the county.
The county currently provides curbside collection to three mobile home communities.
“The ones we have been doing were grandfathered,” said councillor Don McKay, who chairs the solid waste services committee.
A report from county engineer Gordon Ough explains these communities were provided with collection service prior to the county assuming responsibility for solid waste services in 2001 and were grandfathered in to the county’s current curbside collection program.
Since 2001, all requests for curbside collection in these types of communities have been declined.
“If one mobile home community is granted curbside collection for waste and recyclables, the county will need to be prepared for requests from other similar communities,” the report notes.
Currently mobile home communities are typically serviced by the private sector through waste bin or curbside service.
“The concept that the county would compete with the private sector in providing service to these areas may provoke objections in the business community,” Ough stated in his report.
The report also cites safety issues such as road conditions and width, adequate turn-around space for large vehicles, and adequate winter maintenance as factors to consider when contemplating curbside service in private communities.
