By: Go Home Lake Cottage Owners’ Association
Go Home Lake Cottage Owners’ Association raises serious concerns and proposes alternative solution to lakeside garbage collection for water access residences.
The Go Home Lake Cottage Owners’ Association (GHLCOA) which represents over 430 cottage owners – 90% of which are water access only – are pleading with the District of Muskoka to rethink their plans to remove district garbage bins and replace them with lakeside garbage collection.
“We’re flabbergasted by the new garbage plans. We understand that change may be required but the new collection plans are completely infeasible. They’re chaotic and potentially dangerous,” says Geoff Hogan, President of the GHLCOA. Although residents have made their concerns known to the District via surveys, hundreds of emails and calls, including a 100% survey return rate objecting to the plans, the District is not budging.
This summer, two sets of garbage and recycling bins located near the two marinas on the lake will be removed and replaced with lakeside garbage collection. Once the bins have been removed, a garbage truck will park three times a week, for only a few hours at a time in the parking lot on Minor’s Bay Road. During this window, residents are expected to boat their garbage down a long, narrow channel, the end of which is marsh, to get to the garbage truck.
“There could be a situation where 400 boats are travelling down a dangerously narrow channel at the same time to get to and from the truck, a very hazardous situation” says Hogan. “It’s very difficult to boat down the marsh so that means parking your boat at one of only four spots at the government dock. From there, people would have to walk almost half a kilometre to the truck with their heavy garbage and recycling, while there are hundreds of other boats idling and waiting to park within the timeframe.” Residents who choose to boat and drive from the second marina will create an even more hazardous situation with cars and pedestrians converging to get to the truck at the same time.
In addition to the challenges of transporting the garbage during the short time window, Hogan says residents are concerned about the effect the added boat wakes will have on the shoreline which is home to various species of nesting wildlife. Also, Go Home Lake contains large swaths of Crown land which is popular for campers. If the bins are taken away, the area will likely see increased illegal dumping on the campsites and the surrounding areas, all of which negates the District’s rationale for removing the bins in the first place.
“A one-size fits all approach to garbage collection simply does not work in this situation,” says Hogan. “The Township of Georgian Bay is one of only two municipalities in Ontario where over 50% of the residents are water access only – blanket solutions designed for road access properties just do not work for this area.”
“We are urging the District to take our concerns seriously and consider the unique characteristics of Go Home Lake,” says Simon Edwards, Director of Water Quality for the Association. He adds the Association has proposed re-instating the garbage and recycling depot on Go Home Lake Road which was removed several years ago when bins were placed at the marinas. “The Ministry of the Environment has indicated to us that there is no reason under the existing rules that this would not be approved, providing appropriate controls and surveillance are in place.” In addition to being accessible to all Go Home Lake residents year-round, this solution could result in savings for the District given lakeside waste collection costs $2000/ton compared to depot collection at $919/ton (District estimates).
GHLCOA is hoping the District will work with them to come up with a more practical and feasible solution that will work for the residents in this area.
