Discussions

City talks about staff shortage but same drivers picks up all bins?

I would assume green bins need an additional shift.  
 
If the drivers are normally scheduled for 10 hour days (x 4 days of pickup = 40 hours/week, I would assume), those green bins will probably require an additional couple of guys.  
 
I don't know what they are normally staffed at, but for the sake of argument let's assume there are 4 guys out driving trucks every pickup day. Not everyone has a green bin, but you could feasibly need another 1-2 guys to get those green bins picked up. Or pay your existing guys some major overtime.  
 
I know it's counter-intuitive on the surface, but once you start thinking of it in terms of man-hours, yeah you need bodies to fill those hours. They apparently can't attract enough.

I didn't think they started picking up green bins until May, even though the tentative date is April 5.

They started picking them up last week, glad we got ours emptied.

The City of Brandon Solid Waste section has postponed Green Cart collection for residents until further notice.  
In a statement on its website, the city said the program has been put on pause “due to unforeseen staffing shortages.”  
 
More than 10,000 households participate in the Green Cart collection program. Those residents are being asked to refrain from placing their carts out for the foreseeable future.  
“Although we know this is a disruption in service, we feel that this decision provides the least impact overall to how the Solid Waste section operates day to day,” the city said in its statement.  
Residents have other options to dispose their compost, such as using community depots or bringing excess materials to the Eastview Landfill Site.  
The city also said it appreciates the public’s patience during the service change.

Must have had a lot of garbage truck drivers quit or go on leave.. fast track hiring is slow in the public service.

I used the green bin a lot and will miss it . I hope the city will be able to reinstate this amazing program soon.

Some items could be composted at home. It’s not hard to make your own compost bin. I know that doesn’t work for everything or everyone.

How can the city ask for a 9% tax increase and then postpone the green bin program at the start of the season when most people need it ?  
I say this is mismanagement, I hesitate to use the word incompetent.  
It is a disgrace to the city, you know it is news when provincial news outlets are broadcasting it.  
I believe this starts at management.  
How can City Council put up with this, I think they need to be ashamed and start asking some questions.

"The decision to put Brandon’s green cart composting program on hold was made last week after the city found out two of its six equipment operators in the sanitation department would be off work for several weeks.  
 
On Monday, Brandon’s general manager of operations, Patrick Pulak, said with the reduced workforce, something had to give between regular garbage pickup, the recycling program, managing recycling depots around the city, operations at the Eastview Landfill and the green cart program."  
 
So it would seem its a temporary staffing shortage, not much to be done about it. In the meantime, compost yourself if you can, and if not, those materials can go in your regular garbage bin. Its not the end of the world, so just calm down a little folks.

Calm down.. jee..  
 
the green bin program in our city is a joke to begin with.  
Too many restrictions on what you can or cannot put in there.

It appears the landfill won't be open on Sundays either. I take a lot of my own stuff out and Sundays were very convenient as I work all week and the odd Saturday. Another example of a nearly 15% cut in services.

It's compost, of course there is a limit to what you put in the green bins!

Is there a summer student program that could of helped out ?

 
 
Edited by Iceman69, 2024-04-23 13:21:47