BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following, which is an open letter to the city, is about changes coming next year to waste collection in Barrie.
It’s been announced that changes are coming to garbage collection in Barrie. As a senior owning a home built 51 years ago in 1972, there will be issues.
For security, we park our car in the one car garage. It’s very small on all sides. The garage was built in 1972 in the house proper and does not have space enough for the containers required for waste pick-up, be they for garbage, recycled materials or for composting and yard waste.
Could someone please advise us on where to store all these containers?
During the non-snow months, the material destined for pick-up can be placed on the boulevards beside the narrow one car-width driveway. However, as we’re in our mid-70s with health issues, it will be awfully tough to manoeuvre these containers into place.
Could someone also please advise how we seniors can manage this feat of strength and endurance?
When it snows, the boulevard snowbank beside the one-car driveway can reach up to two metres in height. At that time, and before, all containers would need to be placed in a row on the driveway.
This would basically shut down the use of the driveway while the containers are in place not only for us, but for possible emergency vehicles. It’s illegal to block a driveway. This could happen on collection days from before 7 a.m. to well after noon, sometimes longer.
Could someone please advise how we can prevent the bottom of the driveway from being blocked off with your required containers?
We would like to age gracefully in our old house, but the new garbage collection routines are a bit daunting for us.
How can you improve on making our living as age-at-home seniors better?
Dieter Mueller
Barrie
