The Municipality of Bluewater will be adopting automated co-collection bins, commonly known as Wheelie Bins, for solid waste and recycling collection in 2020. The Bluewater Recycling Association (BRA) will supply each household with one small waste bin and one large recyclables bin in the summer of 2020; larger waste containers will be available upon request, subject to an additional fee.

BRA will be providing educational materials to residents related to bin size, placement at the roadside, and acceptable materials prior to the implementation of the automated Wheelie Bin collection service.

Under the new system, weekly collection will be available to residents of Bayfield, Dashwood, Hensall, Zurich and the Lakeshore (Hay West and Stanley West wards) while Hay East and Stanley East will continue to be serviced bi-weekly (with the exception of Dashwood).

Details of the program can be found on the following document, Automated Garbage Collection 2020, which also includes a link to the full details of the program, including a number of forms for specific exemptions/changes from the program for residents.

Shoreline resident Sid Huff has shared with the BSRA a document that outlines his experiences working with the new guidelines to facilitate the construction of a seawall protection structure and has allowed BSRA to post this document. The document will be of interest to anyone who is contemplating the development of any shoreline protection. Click Installing shoreline protection under the new ABCA guidelines to view the material.

BSRA would like to thank Sid for taking the time to document his experience.

The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, along with many partner agencies, have been working on creating a unified strategy for Lake Huron’s Southeastern Shores (Sarnia to Tobermory) to manage and protect the resiliency and ecological integrity of our coastal ecosystems.

Started in 2016, this Action Plan is set to be released December 2019. This non-regulatory plan will create a unified vision for Lake Huron coastal conservation and stewardship efforts. This plan will enable a coordinated approach to address common issues and goals of communities along the Lake Huron shoreline. The plan will develop a list of environmental management strategies by identifying valuable natural features and species, and the threats and stressors that negatively impact them.

If you would like to review the Draft Coastal Action Plan for the Southeastern Shoreline of Lake Huron, you may do so from now to Oct. 14 at Draft Plan

Questions regarding the Lake Huron Coastal Action Plan may be directed to Hannah Cann at hannah.cann@lakehuron.ca or by calling LHCCC office at 226 421-3029

Of issues BSRA has been following, we would like to update you on two.

The Municipality of Bluewater is currently looking at changes to the current garbage and recycling collection system and frequency. This is to keep you informed of what we have learnt.

One option we understand is the potential replacement of the current manual pick up units with an automated system requiring new garbage containers. We understand it is the preferred collection method being advocated by Bluewater Recycling Association.

We also understand that the municipality is also reviewing the bi-weekly collection for properties west of Highway 21 between October and May each year. With a weekly collection year-round being proposed by the Bluewater Recycling Association. To cover the cost of these changes, the garbage tag would be eliminated, and the fee for the service would be added to the property tax bill of residents. We hear figures of $120 – $150 being added annually to property taxes bills.

In a review of services, the municipality should take into account that over 70% of the population along the lakeshore do not require garbage or recycling collection every week and that the lakeshore road system is already a challenge for the current vehicles. In some cases, it may not be able to accommodate the large automated vehicles.

There are proposed changes to the Provincial Policy Statement. Municipal Government and Conservation Authorities are greatly affected by Provincial Policy.  Take advantage of this opportunity to submit your own comments prior to the October 21st deadline.  For further details and to comment, visit Policy Review Page