As the City of Portage la Prairie prepares to roll out its new garbage bin system on August 1, residents in the surrounding Rural Municipality (RM) will not be making the switch, at least not any time soon. Questions have been brewing and Roy Tufford, Reeve of the RM of Portage la Prairie, confirmed there are no plans in the near future to adopt the city's new waste disposal approach.
Tufford pointed to several reasons for staying the course, including a binding contract with the RM's current waste collection provider.
"We have an existing contract that's going to run at least another two years. So, we can't change things for two years anyway," he explained.
He also noted that logistical challenges make the bin system impractical for many rural residents.
"In the rural areas, those bins don't work well. You're dragging it on aggregate, possibly a quarter of a mile," he said. "And they're too heavy to lift."
Cost is another major consideration.
"Quite frankly, the cost would go sky high," Tufford added, saying the new system may only be feasible in small urban communities like Oakville, MacDonald, or High Bluff.
Current waste collection in the RM is also more flexible, with no strict limits on how many bags can be put out.
"Pretty much anything you take down they will take," said Tufford. "I haven't had them reject and leave anything at the end of my driveway yet."
He warned that switching to bins could introduce strict volume limits, something rural residents aren't used to.
"It works in the city," he said, "but it doesn't work in the RM."
Residents in the RM of Portage la Prairie can expect their current waste collection system to remain unchanged. With a combination of contractual obligations, logistical challenges, and cost concerns, the RM is opting to stick with a system that continues to meet the unique needs of its rural communities.
