It looks like a furniture wasteland. Homeowner Brad Thompson says people often dump large pieces of trash in his North End back lane.
“Mattresses, they fill up our garbage cans with renovated stuff from other houses and we have no room to put our garbage in," said Thompson.
Right now, private contractors pick up bulky waste. City council has agreed to let city workers take over that contract to see if they can do a better job with garbage collection.
But a new report says that will come at a cost to taxpayers -- close to $1.8 million a year, nearly $800,000 more than the private model. The report says the city would have to spend more on fuel, heating and storage for the trucks needed to provide the service, not to mention union wages.
But CUPE, the union representing city workers, and Winnipeg's chair of the water and waste committee said the report doesn't add up.
"I'm not entirely sold on all of those numbers," said water and waste chair Brian Mayes.
CUPE said salary and equipment prices are inflated. It's working with city officials to find efficiencies and refine the estimates. Brian Mayes said while there will be one-time costs to bring portions of garbage service like this back in house, he’s confident it will pay off in the long run and improve service.
"In those parts of the city where arson is a problem, let's try to ensure we have really efficient bulky waste pickup. Because if it's there for more than, as someone has said 48 hours, someone sets it on fire," said Mayes.
Even if it costs more, Brad Thompson doesn't care who picks up the furniture in his lane, as long as it's cleared away faster.
"It's always going to cost us more money no matter what we do," said Thompson.
