Even though the City of Winnipeg aimed to coordinate residential snow-clearing efforts around garbage and recycling collection, the two systems ran into conflicts this week.

Some residents found their garbage carts set out for collection had been buried or knocked over by snow-clearing crews.

Others wondered what to do with their carts when garbage collection was delayed on their scheduled collection day.

“So people get up, they get ready for work, get ready to leave and then they find out the garbage is still sitting here. The plow hasn’t come by. What are you supposed to do?” asked Renee Dewar, a homeowner in Sage Creek.

Now, the city is saying homeowners should put their carts away and not bring them out again until seven a.m. the next morning, if your garbage collection is delayed on your regular day.

“When there is a delay in garbage pickup, we would ask people to pull the carts in, if it’s an overnight plow, and then get them out next day for pickup,” said Ken Boyd, the city’s manager of street maintenance.

Dewar said the city could have done a better job relaying that message earlier in the week.

Mayor Sam Katz said he sympathizes with frustrated residents.

“It’s difficult for the mayor or any member of council to ask for patience because some people have been through a lot,” said Katz.

To ensure future plowing operations and garbage pickup don’t continue to conflict, the city said it will talk to contractor Emterra about improving service.

“Our plan is to sit down with our partners in this, after the plow, and review those concerns to see how we best address them the next time around,” said Boyd.

Dewar isn’t yet convinced things will improve.

The city said there are some streets where plowing was missed. It plans to go out and clear them.

If your street was missed, the city is asking people to wait until Thursday, Nov. 15 to report it.

The city said snow clearing will be underway for zone C on Wednesday night, so people in that area should move their vehicles from residential streets, or they could get towed to another street.

So far, the city said it has towed more than 1,200 vehicles, but is not ticketing anyone yet.

People needing to find out their snow-clearing zone can go to the Know Your Zone website or call 311.