Leaf collection worthy of political debate

I am having a difficult time understanding how the residents of Niagara Falls are better served today than 20 years ago when it comes to residential leaf pick- up.

For those who remember the mid- 1990s, the city council of the day scrapped the controversial loose leaf collection as an eco- friendly way of diverting yard waste from garbage dumps.

After a few years of public pressure it was re- instated. Again in 2004 at budget time, council voted to scrap the leaf pick- up only to re- instate again that fall after receiving more complaints. Again the reprieve was short- lived and later scrapped. The service was again re- instated in the fall of 2008 only to be finally discontinued in 2009.

Fast forward to 2017. Some of the same people are sitting on council, city and regional. The city has now passed the buck to the

Region. Long gone is the loose leaf pick- up. People are forced to bag their leaves or put them into reusable containers for pick up.

As of today, a notice on the Region’s website states that major delays have occurred with the bag and container pick- up of leaves due to the Region’s contractor not having sufficient resources.

Give me a break. In our neighbourhood, the streets are lined with soggy and torn bags which have sat out for almost a week. The leaves are now askew causing havoc and making our streets even worse than before. Not to mention the extra green conscious people who use reusable containers. They are now stuck with leaves that are frozen to the bottom of their containers which will rot there until spring.

Perhaps it is time to make this a political issue. Campaigning will soon begin.

Remember to ask your city or regional councillor what they have done in the name of progress to make things better in regards to leaf pick- up in our fine city.

Fred Audibert Niagara Falls