A Midland councillor wants residents to help beautify their town.
Cody Oschefski pitched the idea for a town-led, community cleanup at council's most recent meeting.
It's been done before, said Oschefski, adding that he wants to ensure it's done right, but didn't have specifics regarding what areas he'd like to see tackled or when the cleanup might occur.
"In the last term of council, we kind of did this on a whim," he said. "We pulled it together on a Friday for a Sunday and it was just so easy back then. The new code of conduct regulations and the rules around doing things like that and putting yourself in the spotlight for getting assets from the town is frowned upon, so I'm going about it the right way."
The cleanup will draw on volunteers for whom the town will provide garbage bags and protective gear, such as gloves and masks.
"If there's any public property you feel can use some special attention," said Oschefski, adding he was not referring to grass-cutting but garbage pickup, "I would be happy to organize a group to come out and clean up certain areas."
He said he's also looking into including some music in the park to encourage and motivate those volunteering their time.
The idea was appreciated by all around the council table with Coun. Jon Main noting that the town didn't get a chance to have any Earth Week-related outdoors activities this year.
"Often staff will go out on Earth Day and do a cleanup," he said. "(This year) we just stayed inside and maybe did a little bit of gardening."
Main acknowledged that garbage around town has been an issue during the lockdown.
"Obviously, we want to encourage zero waste and that people take their waste home with them," he said. "But realistically, garbage is going to be produced in and around the parks and in the downtown. This is just a simple initiative to get a community buy-in and I think people are really willing and able to help out."
Main added that he felt a town-led, community clean up was a safe way of bringing people together for a cause while following safety protocols. He also suggested that the event could also target some of the smaller municipal parks.
Coun. Bill Gordon, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the event could help focus on cleaning up Midland Bay Landing.
"It's busy and there's a lot of mess in the woods," he said. "I think we've even had some volunteers trying to do something about it. Maybe we can get people down there to walk around the property to see how beautiful it is. Maybe we could identify some spots where brush could be easily cleared and maybe a tree or two felled for keeping people's views and vistas open."
All in all, Gordon said, he agreed with Oschefski's proposal, even though he was aware of some concerns people may express.
"Some people were concernd that we were trying to crowd source residents to do the job that we're paying town employees to clean up our public areas," said Gordon. "While that is a concern, this is still a benevolent act in solidarity.
"The community's cleanliness and the way it looks is all our responsibility. It's not fair to put that solely on our employees. We pay people to do this on an ongoing basis, but I don't think there's anything wrong with getting people to get out and get some fresh air and clean the areas up."
Coun. Cher Cunningham backed the idea but cautioned that staff be consulted with respect to the waste management facility's reduced operating schedule.
The date and time for the clean up will be determined at a later date and shared with residents via the town's communications channels.
"Let's beautify our town," said Oschefski. "Let's all pitch in a little bit and get together. It's been a long time since we got to do anything in the community at all. This will be great."
