WHITE ROCK - Condo dwellers are calling on White Rock council to rescind a bylaw that dumps garbage collection on them, a new rule they say was decided on in a secret meeting.
Starting July 1, 11,000 residents who live in multi-family housing in the city of 20,000 will have to find a way to dispose of household waste. The city has announced the "privatization" of garbage pickup through an invitation to an April 1 public meeting on "the end of multi-family collection of garbage, organics and recycling."And that's angered many who live in the city's 252 strata buildings, including Dennis Lypka."They're saying this is privatization, it's not, it's the discontinuance of a service," Lypka said."They just said, 'Guess what, you're on your own, figure it out for yourself.'"It's going to be more expensive." Resident Garry Wolgemuth said representatives from 15 stratas met last week on 24 hours' notice to discuss the changes and he's expecting more at a meeting Tuesday.He said he calculated what the city said it's returning to taxpayers in a lower tax rate and it won't cover what it will cost to have a company empty their bins.Both residents also say they are upset that Mayor Wayne Baldwin, who promised before last fall's election that council would be more transparent if he was elected, decided on the change during a meeting that was closed to the public.In July, council commissioned an independent report on garbage collection in light of stricter requirements for sorting garbage, including a Jan. 1 Metro Vancouver ban on organics.See also YOUR LETTERS > page 14 Susan Lazaruk /The Province On Dec. 15 council decided to scrap pickup for multifamily dwellings and to charge all single-family homes the same fee for garbage collection.One of the reasons the decision was made behind closed doors, according to the minutes of the meeting, was that discussions "could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public."Dan Bottrill, White Rock's chief administration officer, said he recommended to councillors that they hold the meeting in camera but he couldn't provide a reason or identify possible harm to the city.Baldwin was on holiday and unavailable for comment, and messages left for councillors weren't returned.Bottrill said the change in garbage collection was made to shift responsibility for pickup to a user-pay system instead of having owners of multimillion-dollar homes pay a disproportionately higher fee through higher assessed taxes."There were some people who were very concerned about it," he said.The city will continue to pick up garbage from singlefamily dwellings and they will be charged about $400 a year. He said the tax rate will be cut by four per cent.Lypka said opponents want the new bylaw lifted and they may consider legal action if it isn't.