WESTLOCK – It’s hoped the streets of Westlock will be lined with old couches, TVs and stoves for the first-ever, town-run large item pickup event next month.
Slated for Sept. 8, the event has been a long time in the making, said CAO Simone Wiley, as council and admin have talked about hosting one for a number of years. Wiley noted they’ve budgeted $7,500 for the event to pay not only the removal of the items, but the tonnage charge at the landfill, although they “anticipate the actual cost will be lower.”
“Administration has for the last three years talked with council when we have service-level discussions and this is one we’ve proposed as a service-level increase for the community knowing that we have low-income people and seniors who may not have the ability to take these larger items out to the landfill,” said Wiley. “And it’s also about community standards, helping people keep the community clean and getting trash out of their backyards.”
The premise is simple: if you have large items, including appliances, place them in front of your home before 7 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8 and the town will collect them that day free of charge.
To possibly cut down on some of the curbside clutter the town is asking residents to begin placing items curbside Sept. 6 which allow others to claim those unwanted items as “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure” Wiley added. Meanwhile, things like barbecues and lawnmowers must have their fuel or oil tanks drained or they won’t be collected. Other questions on specific items should be directed to the town.
“There are a lot of moving parts to hold an event like this. We are happy to be able to include things like fridges and freezers, which can be difficult to dispose of due to size and weight and of course the Freon content,” she said.
Four GFL trucks will comb the streets and each will be designated to collect specific items — residents shouldn’t panic if a truck shows up and only takes a few things as the other trucks will be along for the remainder, Wiley noted. And if something is missed, residents can contact the town to be placed on a notification list as GFL will return the following week to claim the scraps.
The town also notes to keep items not for disposal, like basketball nets and bikes, away from the end of your driveway so they are not accidentally picked up. However, if any of those items are to be picked up, place a note on them to avoid confusion and errors.
“We’re hoping it goes really smoothly and everyone gets their stuff picked up, but this is the first time so if anyone gets missed they can give us a call,” she said.
As for the date, Wiley said they specifically choose the Wednesday after the long weekend.
“When we talked timing this date made a lot of sense. We didn’t want to do anything over the summer and September seemed OK, but we didn’t want to go too late, either,” she said. “We picked this day strategically so people would have time over the weekend to be able to make the Wednesday date.”
