Laval City Hall Watch – September 14 2016

Laval City Hall Watch - September 14 2016

City Watch

While it has been a great summer, September has arrived and with it preparations for the fall and winter seasons are upon homeowners. Closing the swimming pool, cleaning out a garage, a home improvement project or just plain reorganizing the household storage and shed becomes an opportunity to get rid of superfluous wastes and debris. Much of this debris and waste requires special handling. The proper handling and disposal of this household hazardous waste not only respects the environment but is also obligatory according to city regulations. The City of Laval offers several activities and collections during the months of September and October to facilitate these tasks as well as renewing, recycling and reusing objects that would normally end up as landfill waste.

HHW collection

Household hazardous wastes (HHW) are substances or products that may be harmful to people’s health and the environment if thrown in the trash or down the drain into the city sewer system. Twice a year, in May and in September, the city of Laval organizes a collection of common hazardous household waste. The goal is to prevent harmful products like leftover paint, medicines, batteries and old electronics to end up in landfills. The autumn disposal will take place Saturday September 17^th from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm in the parking lot of Laval’s city hall (access by 1333 Chomedey Boulevard or the Cardinal Street). It is reserved for citizens only (proof of residency is required) and businesses and entrepreneurs cannot participate. Place your HHW in cardboard boxes.

Compost Sale

The City of Laval collects organic waste such as kitchen waste, fallen leaves, and grass clippings as part of its three-stream waste garbage collection. Instead of being sent to a landfill site, organic waste is transported to a municipal composting site. This service is provided in the Champfleury district and in parts of the Chomedey and Laval-des-Rapides districts. These materials are then transformed into compost which is a natural fertilizer that is rich in nutrients. It is estimated that the three stream composting collection for 2015 diverted an estimated 2500 tons of organic materials from local landfills (about 240 trucks of compostable materials).

While composting saves landfill space it also recycles biodegradable waste into a useful product. Compost which is a nutrient and natural fertilizer can be used to enrich lawns and gardens. Administrators of Laval invite citizens to buy their locally produced compost at the cost of two dollars for a 15 kg bag. The sale is organized for the Saturday September 24^th from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (or while quantities) in the parking lot of the Laval City Hall (1 Place du Souvenir) and is open to Laval residents therefore a proof of residency is required. Only payments in cash will be accepted and a limit of 15 bags per car. No chips or bulk compost is available.

Collection of fallen leaves

While dead leaves can be added to a home composter or shredded with the mower to enrich the soil, too often they are sent to landfill sites. This is why the City of Laval has instituted a special door to door fallen leaves waste collection since 1993. Usually this special collection is scheduled during the months of October and November and is part of the regular recycling waste collection service. People can also dispose of their pumpkins and bales of straw through this exceptional pickup.

This year the service will be available during the regularly scheduled garbage collection from the 10^th of October to the 11^th of November on the day of collection of recyclable materials. Residents are asked to bundle fallen leaves in paper bags only and place them on the curb before 7:00 am on their regular garbage collection day. It is important to not include branches or waste and avoid stained or spotted leaves when possible as they may have tar spot disease.

The 21st fallen leaves collection recovered 2,106 tons of leaves, equivalent to 311 trucks full of garbage. Since the first edition of this program, exactly 21,848 tons of fallen leaves have been collected and recycled by Laval farmers. They become a great free and natural fertilizer.

Special sale of items for babies and preschoolers

Organised as part of the Quebec Week for waste reduction, the big baby garage sale catering to products for children 0 to 6 years old allows Laval families to refresh their child’s wardrobe or the toy box at an economical cost. Following the success experienced in 2014 and 2015, the third edition will be held Sunday October 23^rd from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Pavillon du bois Papineau centre.

One hundred tables will be filled with items such as toys, clothing, furniture, books, and accessories of all kinds which are deemed to be in good condition. There are approximately seventy five free tables available for residents wishing to sell items but they must be reserved and are on a first come first serve basis. For more information call 450-978-6888 poste 7726.

Shoppers are reminded that all transactions are in cash and they should bring their own bags.

Bicycle collection

The collection of used bikes not only recycles an ecofriendly and healthy transportation vehicle it is also an opportunity to provide youth with summer employment.  The City of Laval has scheduled a collection for two wheeled bicycles regardless of their condition and size for Saturday, October 15^th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the reception area of dry materials located at 1527 Cunard Street.

The bikes collected will be repaired and donated to the Le Défi -Jeunesse Centre project VélOrange in St- François. To help promote local transportation over forty bikes are available for free use by local residents who can pick up and drop off the vehicle at prearranged sites like the Moulin Park , the Marius -Barbeau library, the youth center and the park Escale.

The project name comes from the unique color of bicycles which are painted orange. For more information online go to https://www.velorange.com/depliant-velorange-centredefijeunesse.pdf.

RFID systems in libraries

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The tags can contain electronically stored information. Unlike a barcode, the tag need not be within the line of sight of a reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object.

Laval’s library service is being upgraded with such a system. As part of the tender for the acquisition of RFID equipment members of the Executive Committee recommend to City Council to grant the following contracts: Intmotion Company Inc. for an amount of $ 321,020 (terminals loan / return in 2016); Company Bibliotheca ITG Inc. for an amount of $ 1,129,071 (all $ 7 wickets and 20 bins between 2016 and 2017). It is hoped that the RFID technology will allow more efficient document management by promoting the automation of the loan transactions and returns.

Ground Pool authorization for mobile homes

An amendment to the regulation of the City of Laval is proposed to allow for above-ground pools (not including in ground swimming pools and hot tubs) in residential areas of mobile homes. It should be noted that these installations would be subject to the same safety standards and bylaws as in other residential areas.

Collection depot for used electronic products

Laval’s Regional Council of the Environment has been given permission to implement a pilot project to install a depot site for the recovery of used electronics, computers and batteries. The first drop off site will be at the Pavillon du bois Papineau centre.