OCT Ask the Councillor: speed humps on Courtland; leaf collection timing
Resident D.C. asks: As you are probably aware, there were 2 speed bumps installed on Courtland to help slow down the traffic. One of them was removed earlier this year to allow for repaving of the street between Drury Lane and Waterloo. Now all these months later after the paving has been completed, the signs are still up denoting the fact that there is a speed bump there, but the actual speed bump itself, has never been reinstalled. Any idea when this might be happening because with the young children now back in school, there is a tremendous amount of pedestrian traffic on school days? Also the speed bumps that are being installed in our area seem to be of different heights. Is there not some specific height specified for these bumps. For example the one on Courtland now is quite low and most vehicles can drive over it at almost full speed whereas the one on George St. forces you to slow down due to it being higher?
Response: The speed hump will be returned to Courtland in the spring of 2017, once the top layer of asphalt has been put down and the one-year warranty has passed. The speed hump design for all measures is 3 inches high. There may be slight variations in the height, but they are all very close.
Resident E.A. asks: Why did leaf collection begin on Oct. 24 when there were no leaves on the ground? The leaf collection dates, which were perfectly timed not so many years ago, have now been moved forward by a full 3 weeks. I have an issue with tax dollars being spent on a useless leaf collection.
Response: The leaf collection schedule is established well in advance and promoted city-wide to afford residents ample time to prepare for the annual program. One factor critical to the success of the operation and something we don’t have control over is Mother Nature’s cooperation. Council’s approved service standard has been enhanced to include an extra week of collection, along with an additional second pick-up in some collection districts. With the same heavy equipment being used for snow removal and leaf collection, the only means for staff to accommodate the second leaf pick-up was to advance the start date, rather than delay the program, as staff need the lead time after leaf collection to prepare for winter. Please note, not all leafing districts receive a second collection (Ward 2 does the week of Nov. 14). The City’s leafing program is further supplemented by the yard waste collection service provided by the Region.
November 2, 2016 @ 11:49 am
It makes no sense to me. The first leaf collection was a waste of resources and the second will be much too soon as well. We used to have the last collection during the first week of December, which was about right. It seems to me we had winter then too, for which they had to prepare. I suspect there will be a ton of leaves that are not picked up as people will rake them to the curb anyway.
November 1, 2016 @ 4:04 pm
I watched the truck go down a perfectly clean street where there was no need for leaf pickup. Instead of making a show of working when there is little to be done, just don’t go. At least you would save the huge cost of gasoline!
November 1, 2016 @ 12:28 pm
Indeed, while I agree that the weather has “not co-operated”, such an early collection is truly a somewhat avoidable waste of resources, Let us hope that mother nature does not fail to cooperate again and leave us with piles of snow covered leaves thru the winter.
October 31, 2016 @ 11:40 pm
Marianne, the official take on the leaf pickup program suggests that the bull has diarrhea…. South Burlington has green leaves – the staff worked hard to pick up individual specimens. We are confused….
November 2, 2016 @ 10:16 am
I heartily agree, this a waste of money and should be changed, no matter what the plan was, if there are no leafs to pick up no no collection should of been done. We have no way to predict the what the weather is going to be like 6 month in advance, forecasting is only effective a couple of week in advance if at all. The program should be flexible to account for variations.
I resent that the hard earned money I pay in taxes go to waste, specially when every year taxes increase.