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In-ground waste bins to further beautify Newmarket's downtown core

Yorkregion.com
August 7, 2019
Teresa Latchford

Pam Lewis welcomes the town’s solution to Main Street’s garbage woes.

The co-owner of Main Street’s Maid’s Cottage wants to keep it clean, odourless and critter-free in the downtown core for everyone’s enjoyment, but being a busy restaurant located in a unique area of town is challenging when it comes to waste disposal.

“We have purchased two animal-proof bins, put one outside our back door and the other near Joia’s bins,” she said. “Right out the window of our restaurant you can see the bins -- and they do get a little smelly when it’s hot.”

Newmarket’s town council has approved a pilot project to install two in-ground waste containers, on a pilot project basis, in the northeast corner of the Timothy Street parking lot located just behind a number of local Main Street businesses.

In the past decade, the Main Street area has seen the addition of 11 new restaurants, engaging programming and entertainment happening year-round on top of the thriving shops and services.

With many of the local businesses being built to their property lines without sufficient space to include an enclosed garbage garage, disposal bins have been encroaching on roadways, are unsightly and can emit an odour on hot summer days.

Lewis said that she and a number of other downtown businesses are on board with the idea of paying a fee to use the town-owned garbage bins.

“It’s not about the cost of using it,” she said. “I’ve seen them in other parts of town and they seem to work well. I think they would go a long way to improving the esthetics of the area that backs onto a well-used public area.”

BIA chairperson Tom Hempen confirmed garbage disposal has been an issue in the downtown core for years and that the organization supports the town partnering with downtown businesses to find a solution.

The intention is for the town to own the bins, paying the estimated $30,000 installation fee and following maintenance and monthly operation costs, according to the town’s development and infrastructure commissioner Peter Noehammer.

“The cost of installation as well as the cost for operation will be recouped by charging businesses who use the bins a fee,” he added. “We are aiming to make this project revenue-neutral.”

Noehammer said the details of the contract and confirmation of the vendor is still in the works, but that they hope the bins will be ready for use come the fall.

“This pilot is part of our beautification plan for Cedar Street and the surrounding area,” he added. “It is part of the downtown revitalization grant for Main Street given out by the province, so there will also be some grading and other work going on to make the Timothy Street parking area more attractive.”

Two parking spots will be used to accommodate the in-ground waste containers that are made of recyclable, durable plastic. They will be anchored five feet into the ground, which prevents the heating of waste and reduces the chance of odours.

The tops of the containers will be about four feet high, and has easy-to-lift lockable front and rear doors that open for disposal of waste. For safety, the doors are latched and locked securely at all times; this will go a long way to eliminate wind disturbances and pest issues.

Specialized trucks are required for pickup, but the front-load truck can collect in under one minute.

The town is also looking at installing technology on the bin to only allow access to commercial businesses that are paying a fee and to collect data on how much is being disposed of, who is disposing of it and more to gauge the success of the pilot project, Mayor John Taylor said.

“This is something we have been talking about for a while since our downtown is so successful,” he added. “If this works out well, we may explore installing these in other facilities and locations around town.”