I work for Mayor Nenshi, ask me anything!

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by edslunch

A bit off-topic, but who owns the rights to use the black and blue bins? My view is that they are provided by the city to collect garbage and recycling and therefore can be used by anybody who has garbage and recycling not specifically the homeowner they are located at. So I will on occasion drop my dog poop bag in some random black bin and once in a while put my overflow recycle in my neighbors blue bin. I only do the recycle thing if I know they either don't use the bin or they are away, but I don't feel like I need to ask their permission. Are there actually any rules about this? Am I being a dick?

I'd be curious to know the answer myself -- this happens occasionally with my black bin. My stance is that your dog's **** is not my garbage. I pay for garbage removal on my Enmax bill, so I get to choose what goes in there.

Part of the issue is that my black bin is on my property, not in an alley (i.e. I have to wheel it out to the street on garbage day). So technically the person is trespassing on my property when they drop off their stinky bag of crap, which then sits in my bin until I open it up to insert my own garbage. /WRGMG

[Daorcey]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Why does the new guy have extra vowels?

And an actual question, what are they building by the elec. substation beside the river by Douglasdale? Related to the flooding? TIA

Extra vowels? Hippy parents.

As for your question... I'm not 100% sure. Here's a flood recovery projects map. Related to that, this page is also very helpful (when it comes to looking at flood recovery work).

And, at the risk of demonstrating how I don't know everything, my best suggestion for finding out something like that is to call 311. That way you can describe exactly what you're looking at and they should be able to track down exactly what's happening (or, at least, whose project that is).

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Daorcey

And, at the risk of demonstrating how I don't know everything, my best suggestion for finding out something like that is to call 311. That way you can describe exactly what you're looking at and they should be able to track down exactly what's happening (or, at least, whose project that is).

Bunk would have found out for us. 311 is for regular folk.

(I really do appreciate your adoption of this thread. Seriously.)

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I'd be curious to know the answer myself -- this happens occasionally with my black bin. My stance is that your dog's **** is not my garbage. I pay for garbage removal on my Enmax bill, so I get to choose what goes in there.

Part of the issue is that my black bin is on my property, not in an alley (i.e. I have to wheel it out to the street on garbage day). So technically the person is trespassing on my property when they drop off their stinky bag of crap, which then sits in my bin until I open it up to insert my own garbage. /WRGMG

I figure we're not getting charged by the quantity of garbage so no foul. But I can sympathize with the smell aspect. I'll refrain in future.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Which kinda leads into question 2... If I only put one little bag into my bin, what's the code for telling the garbage guy to just pass me by for the week? Leaving it right up against my garage only inspires the truck driver to stab my garage siding with the picker upper things. Bringing my bins inside my garage is not an option. I have resorted to pushing out the bins weekly, whether there's something in them or not. Bins need little flags like American mailboxes.

Don't even get me started on the bin debacle.

I have a detached rear garage (which can't fit any bins) so both my bins sit in the rear alley all week (which is what everyone does). When I first moved in I would pull them back tight to the fence/garage when they didn't need to be picked up as I really only need pickup every 2-3 weeks tops. Anyways mr garbage man didn't like me leaving my empty bins sitting close to my fence so he left me a warning that my bins needed to be 1m away from everything, blah blah blah, so now I leave my usually empty bins way out in the lane all the time.

Can't wait to get a green compost bin which I have no room for, probably just cut it up into little pieces and throw is out in the black bin.... or is it recyclable?

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Don't even get me started on the bin debacle.

I have a detached rear garage (which can't fit any bins) so both my bins sit in the rear alley all week (which is what everyone does). When I first moved in I would pull them back tight to the fence/garage when they didn't need to be picked up as I really only need pickup every 2-3 weeks tops. Anyways mr garbage man didn't like me leaving my empty bins sitting close to my fence so he left me a warning that my bins needed to be 1m away from everything, blah blah blah, so now I leave my usually empty bins way out in the lane all the time.

Can't wait to get a green compost bin which I have no room for, probably just cut it up into little pieces and throw is out in the black bin.... or is it recyclable?

I pull my bins all the way back to my house, so I can fill them up easily from the back door, and the recycle isn't rummaged through by bottlepickers. You need to move the bins in and out each garbage day, that's just the way it is.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Knalus

I pull my bins all the way back to my house, so I can fill them up easily from the back door, and the recycle isn't rummaged through by bottlepickers. You need to move the bins in and out each garbage day, that's just the way it is.

Our rear property line is fronted by garage o/h door with maybe 24" of fence on each side before the neighbors garage/fences start. There is no gate or anything to bring the bins through. And you can't drag the bins through the garage with cars parked in them.

I'm sure anyone living in a duplex (or rear lane home) in any newer neighborhood has the exact same problem as the lots are so damn narrow.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Our rear property line is fronted by garage o/h door with maybe 24" of fence on each side before the neighbors garage/fences start. There is no gate or anything to bring the bins through. And you can't drag the bins through the garage with cars parked in them.

I'm sure anyone living in a duplex (or rear lane home) in any newer neighborhood has the exact same problem as the lots are so damn narrow.

Yup. Pretty much my situation. I have space for both bins - in front of the returns on either side of my garage OHD. They sit there all week until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, when I throw a bag into each of them, then wheel them 3' forward so that the truck driver doesn't hit my garage siding with the clamps.

It would seem logical that if I haven't rolled my bins forward (or only rolled one of them forward), that it doesn't need to be emptied. Of course, I'm not pinning this on stupid garbage men. They probably know exactly what it means. The problem, I'm willing to bet money on this, is that there are a few lazy ass people around town that don't roll their bins away from their garage, and then the garbage men thought it meant not to empty them, but then they got a 311 complaint, so the supervisors said to grab every bin that's grabbable.

Damn lazy people, it's their fault my siding and brick mould are damaged.

[Daorcey]

Josh's last day in the office. He'll live on as Bunk.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by edslunch

once in a while put my overflow recycle in my neighbors blue bin. I only do the recycle thing if I know they either don't use the bin or they are away, but I don't feel like I need to ask their permission. Are there actually any rules about this? Am I being a dick?

You're close to being a dick, but I'm not sure.

Sometimes I save up a whack of cardboard that won't fit after such things as a big Ikea run.

On garbage day, I'll cut up whatever will fit in the bin along with our normal weekly recycling.

When someone else has filled my bin with their crap earlier that morning, I'm stuck with a garage full of cardboard for one more week. Drives me crazy.

[Northendzone]

If my partially filled bin was out on the street, then I am fine with someone depositing some garbage in it. I'd only be annoyed if the bin was not emptied that particular day.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by [B

Bill Bumface[/B];5154338]You're close to being a dick, but I'm not sure.

Sometimes I save up a whack of cardboard that won't fit after such things as a big Ikea run.

On garbage day, I'll cut up whatever will fit in the bin along with our normal weekly recycling.

When someone else has filled my bin with their crap earlier that morning, I'm stuck with a garage full of cardboard for one more week. Drives me crazy.

lmao!

Who took the Bull Bumface challange???

[sleepingmoose]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

And an actual question, what are they building by the elec. substation beside the river by Douglasdale? Related to the flooding? TIA

It looks to me like they're tunneling under the river - perhaps a new water main or wastewater pipe?

[Wormius]

It seems like there are water main breaks occurring on a yearly basis along 14th St NW. Does the City intend to ever proactively fix the infrastructure there? It only seems to be 14th; I have not heard of so many water main breaks anywhere else in the city.

It's a minor inconvenience, but it seems like it's inevitable that problems will arise.

On an unrelated note - underpasses under the CTrain and CPRail lines that run parallel to Macleod. Any chance of something like that between 39th and 58th St?

[Daorcey]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It seems like there are water main breaks occurring on a yearly basis along 14th St NW. Does the City intend to ever proactively fix the infrastructure there?

I'm asking my colleagues in Water Services about this, but I do know have and early response. While the inconvenience of these regular repairs is pretty lame, it's be nothing compared to the inconvenience (and cost) of replacing the whole water main. So, my suspicion is that Water Services is keeping a close eye on this one and collecting as much data as possible to determine when to make the big dig.

[Daorcey]

Originally Posted by Wormius

On an unrelated note - underpasses under the CTrain and CPRail lines that run parallel to Macleod. Any chance of something like that between 39th and 58th St?

I don't think those are on the long-term plans right now. Funding new transit routes are the priority right now... and we're still billions of dollars behind on that. For more about the future of public transit, check out www.routeahead.ca

[Rhettzky]

I was just talking to a colleague yesterday about this. There are 3 lines running along that section of 14th. One is a large steel distribution main, another is a newer feedermain and the last is for servicing in the area. I'd have to look into it but I think he said the large diameter steel pipe is under the other two mains and its very old. The reason being there was no room for another line assignment for the feedermain, so too many pipes and they had to stack them. This makes repairs time consuming and costly in that area. Not sure what the plan is to fix the issue or if there is one though.

[Daorcey]

More!

Originally Posted by Wormius

It seems like there are water main breaks occurring on a yearly basis along 14th St NW. Does the City intend to ever proactively fix the infrastructure there? It only seems to be 14th; I have not heard of so many water main breaks anywhere else in the city.

Direct from my colleagues in Water Services:

The water main break at 14 ST. NW and 14 Ave NW was not on the same pipe that had breaks earlier in the year. The break was a small 6” diameter distribution main located in the vicinity. Because of its proximity to the 14 St main, it was referenced as such. The 6” inch distribution watermain serving this community has had a strong service history. A condition assessment will be conducted, in order to further understand the cause of the break. As for the water feedermain on 14th ST , it has been flagged for further inspection due to age, condition and the recent series of breaks. Once the inspection is complete, we will determine what actions need to be taken to reduce the frequency of breaks.

Water main breaks can happen anywhere there are water lines. A number of factors contribute to watermain breaks. They include pipe age, pipe material and soil conditions, temperature, and pressure changes in the system. All breaks are tracked through our Asset Management Program, which involves analyzing and inspecting the water network to identify opportunities for infrastructure upgrades (repairs, replacement, anodes, liners etc.). It is through our Asset Management program that planned worked is determined vs responding to unexpected breaks (reactive).

Water continues to invest in the system - spending on average $10 million plus every year on main replacement projects. Water estimates the cost of a catastrophic main break to be $1.5 million for repair and clean-up, compared to the cost of a feedermain inspection and planned repair of one pipe segment of $0.1 million. Therefore Water will continue to takes a proactive approach by conducting inspections and planned repairs. In the past two years alone, Water has inspected over 25 km of feedermain, which has helped to identify and replace six pipe segments with damage severe enough to become catastrophic breaks. Since 1980 Water has seen the number of emergency watermain repairs reduced by 85 per cent by replacing corroded mains with new pipe, and by reducing the rate of corrosion through installing simple devices on pipes that prevents corrosion.

[Slava]

So now that spring has sprung (or close enough that we aren't likely to see a deep freeze, how soon do the crews get out and clean the roads? Also in the same vein, will motorcycle parking open sooner as far as parking downtown goes?

[jeffh]

Hey Daorcey,
Any word on if Mcivor Blvd will hook up to 68th st se? I tried 311 but the guy couldnt tell me. I thought i read some spreadsheet(i think bunk posted) that said it was planned for starting construction last year. I recently looked at that area by foot, and it appears that after the work that was done for the landfill, culvert and existing powerlines that it isnt going to happen anytime soon. Tho, it would be great for this part of town to get quicker access to the ring road via 114th ave interchange. Thanks!