The city's annual rain-barrel sale has been moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A corporate services memo included in this week's city council agenda provided an update on the annual spring sale, which is held to promote water conservation among Barrie residents. The event, operated by a third-party contractor, allows residents to purchase rain barrels at a subsidized value.
The event, scheduled for Saturday, May 23, will not proceed as it has in previous years. However, the city has worked with the contractor to allow online purchase and delivery, so residents don't have to leave their homes.
"Pivoting to an online platform allows the city to provide this service to our residents while adapting to the health pandemic environment we currently face," Adam McMullin, the city's manager of energy management, said in the memo.
Over the past several years, the sale has been run in conjunction with the city's celebration of National Public Works Week at the Ferndale Drive Operations Centre. Typically, residents were able to pre-order rain barrels online and pick them up at the event, or buy them on site.
Sales of the rain barrels normally exceeds 1,000 units annually for the one-day event.
This year, residents can purchase rain barrels online by clicking here. The rain barrels themselves are $60, including tax.
The barrels will be dropped off directly at a person's home, with a $10 delivery surcharge. Delivery drivers will follow physical-distancing protocols and leave rain barrels in people’s driveways.
While regulations around business operations and deliveries can change at any time, it is anticipated that all barrels ordered online will be delivered within two weeks of the event date.
