A pilot project aimed at cleaning up litter in the city has crash landed.
In July of 2020, Coun. Tim Lauer received the support of his colleagues to have city staff look into ways to combat what he called a "litter problem" in Orillia.
“We definitely have a litter problem in the City of Orillia,” said Lauer at the time.
He said he hoped a staff report would prompt council to have a “discussion about exactly what can be done about littering. There needs to be some sort of action.”
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke agreed.
“To me, it’s a representation of a complete disregard for the pride in our community and, quite frankly, the environment and some of our ecosystems,” said the mayor, who said he has witnessed the issue first-hand, while biking hundreds of kilometres this summer.
“It’s a blatant disregard for the consideration of the natural and person-made environment,” he said.
As a result of that staff report, city councillors — during budget deliberations last year — agreed to earmark $44,000 for a pilot project that would see seasonal parks staff hired to pitch in to clean up litter throughout the city.
But, according to a staff memo to city councillors, the litter cleanup crew is a non-starter — at least for this year. And, once again, chronic and widespread staff shortages is at the root of the problem.
The memo from staff notes that on Feb. 28, the parks maintenance jobs were posted "to support the required staff to conduct the litter cleanup."
On March 14, staff began conducting interviews and attempted to interview a total of 53 applicants.
Of the 53 applicants, only 32 accepted an interview. Of the 32 interviews, staff were only able to hire 11 staff as of May 16. A typical staffing complement for the parks’ department seasonal worker crew is 20 to 25, notes the report.
“As a result of being unable to obtain staff, the cleanup will be unable to be completed,” concludes the staff memo.
Staff within the roads division were deployed to address the common areas where litter continually accumulates and will continue to provide this service throughout the year where time and conditions allow, notes the report.
