The Town of Newmarket is getting ‘smart’ about garbage in its bustling, historic downtown.
Armed with a $100,000 Main Street revitalization grant from the Ontario government, the first of two phases to revive the Timothy and Cedar streets area will see the town install a unique, inground garbage bin system to keep waste out of sight.
Councillor Bob Kwapis, in whose ward the downtown is located, said garbage has been a “big issue” in the downtown for quite some time, particularly with the influx of new restaurants and the high volume of waste that industry generates.
As a member of the Main Street District Business Improvement Area committee, Kwapis has heard first-hand about downtown garbage concerns.
“For some of the restaurants, it’s always difficult where to dump a high volume of garbage,” Kwapis said. “Another big thing is tenants that live above the Main Street stores leaving their garbage bags on the sidewalk on off-garbage days.”
Kwapis said he has had to call in town staff to clean up waste dumped curbside on off-garbage days.
“The whole idea is that we have a lot of visitors, and a lot of festivities, and especially on Cedar Street, that area between Riverwalk Commons and Main Street, I want to see that area cleaned up so people can walk there without seeing all the garbage,” he said.
Many local restaurants use garbage bins located behind the establishments on Cedar Street that is also used as a pedestrian walkway between Main Street and Riverwalk Commons.
The new downtown garbage pilot project, expected to be in place no later than this fall, will see two, durable plastic waste containers buried five feet underground at the northeast corner of the Timothy Street parking lot.
The top four feet of the waste container will be visible, and features latched and locked doors that may include a technology component to measure and charge users by the amount of waste deposited. It will be a public-private partnership that Kwapis expects will pay for itself within a few years, with no impact to taxpayers.
“The beautiful thing about these garbage bins is the restaurant owners or whoever is participating will be paying toward it,” he said. “It’s worth it for them because they split the cost between other partners, and it’s nice for the town because we don’t have to pick up the garbage, it will be done by a private company. It’s a win-win situation.”
If the project proves successful, Kwapis anticipates the system could be extended throughout all of downtown.
“This is all part of the revitalization of that whole area, but we have to deal with the garbage first,” he said.
Two parking spots will be used to accommodate the inground waste containers. A request for proposal has been issued by the town.
Phase two of the Timothy and Cedar streets revitalization is expected to begin in late summer or early fall and will include repaving in the area, the installation of a catch basin and piping to help improve drainage, and benches and other beautification of the area to make it a welcoming and usable space for visitors.
