By 11:35 p.m. on New Years Eve they were ready to roll. The crews with First Class Waste Services, the new garbage contractor for not only Hope, but Yale, Sunshine Valley, Othello and Laidlaw had their route plans and commercial bins in place.
The new contractor took over from R&R Recycling as of January 1, replacing 178 commercial bins and setting up for a two-day residential run which started Tuesday.
“So far it’s going great,” said general manager, Mark O’Hara, who is leading a double-manpower, double-vehicle power crew this week, as they learn the local ins and out of garbage collection.
The crew is working on a short two-day residential schedule with all homes on the Old Hope-Princeton Way side of the CNR railway tracks to be picked up Tuesday mornings, and all homes on the Wallace street side of the CN tracks picked up on Wednesday mornings.
Although the dual recycling and garbage trucks may not roll through your neighbourhood at 7 a.m., O’Hara still recommends customers have their garbage out by early morning to avoid missing a garbage/recycling day should an unexpected route change shift your regular pick up time.
Don’t like the early hour? O’Hara recommends that you put it out the night before your scheduled pick up and invest in a good animal resistant garbage can.
“Rona has made sure they have them in stock… for $10 to $20, they are worth the investment.”
First Class is also working with commercial customers, cleaning up for free a couple of back alleyways in town, and working with business owners in training their staff how and why we should be keeping the town clean.
“We may be a garbage company, but we take pride in what we do, and we should all take pride in our town too. Not to even mention that we have a rat problem in Hope.”
Should a customer miss their garbage day, says O’Hara, if a supervisor or the garbage truck is still in the area, we may be able to double back to help you out but if not, then you may have to hold it for another week.
And with cameras on the trucks, managers can tell if your garbage was street-side and missed by the driver or simply wasn’t out on time.
On the first morning of pickups on Tuesday, O’Hara had received 138 calls from the public, mostly seniors not sure of their pick up day. “That’s way better than other communities we have gone into,” says O’Hara.
The only glitch, Tuesday, was a run in with a rock, which blew out a hydraulic line on one of the garbage trucks.
• Recycling also continues as usual but in both identified blue boxes or blue bags. Sorting of paper, plastics and cans is not necessary.
• Christmas tree pick up is on January 11th or January 12th, and January 25th or January 26th depending on your pick up day.
The trees are being taken to a wood processing facility in Chilliwack to be chipped into ground cover, says O’Hara.
• Limits on garbage are two 80-litre containers or bags with a maximum weight of 20 kilograms each (44 lbs.)
• Recycling of marked plastics, paper, glass and metal cans is unlimited.
• Green waste for composting is at a maximum of 5-80 litre containers, bundles or clear bags, with a maximum weight of 20 kilograms.