BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter from Waste Connections of Canada district manager Dave Hitchon is in response to ''Unacceptable': City reviewing legal options to recoup yard waste costs,' published Nov. 22.
*************************
I would like to thank the residents of Barrie for their patience and support as Waste Connections worked to catch up on the yard waste collection this November, 2022.
Many municipalities struggle to keep up with yard waste collection in the peak times of year and this year we found ourselves in the unenviable position of needing to ask for outside help versus being able to assist elsewhere.
The reasons are varied, some predictable and some not, but at the end of the day we were not able to keep up with the yard waste. I assure you that our team was working long hard days and weekends. However, there is a point where it becomes unhealthy for my team to give more and unsafe for the residents of Barrie to have over-worked drivers on the streets.
If I were to ask them to do so, many of them would, but keeping people safe will always trump getting all the yard waste off the curb — and there are also driver hours of service laws.
Nov. 25 and 26, this past Friday and Saturday, we were able to get caught up. This was accomplished through a combination of our own local team, five other Waste Connections locations and some outside assistance. Yes, competing waste companies do help each other out in these situations. Even though we are competitors, none of us wants to see anyone get hurt or see any more of our fine women and men driven from the industry.
The outpouring of support for our crews out collecting these past days was overwhelming! The drivers were thanked, offered assistance, cheered on and even offered money to ‘go get yourself a hot coffee.’ I am not surprised by the support from the residents of Barrie.
In the more than 10 seasons I spent coaching boys and girls hockey in Barrie, I had the benefit of getting to know and care about so many wonderful families. Some of those kids are just now starting families of their own, right here in Barrie.
I cannot promise you we will not ever have a service issue again. I will promise you that we will continue to do our very best to give all of the residents of Barrie the best service we possibly can. If you do experience an interruption in service, you can rest assured that we will get there as soon as we can do so safely.
Thank you all again. Words cannot express how much your support has meant to the men and women who collect your waste.
Dave Hitchon
District manager, Barrie
Waste Connections of Canada
*************************
