HAGERSVILLE'S LITTERBUG INFESTATION

CHAMBER PRESIDENT BLAMES TRASH PROBLEM ON THOSE WHO CAN'T TELL A PLANTER FROM A GARBAGE BIN

Hagersville and District Chamber of Commerce president Rob Phillips went for a Sunday morning walk with his dog, but instead of enjoying the stroll, he ended up emptying the town's bins and planters of garbage — 13 bags-worth.

"It is truly an ongoing problem," he said. "Every community faces people, who not only do they use the public receptacles for dropping off their personal garbage, but in our case, they use our flower planters as excess garbage cans."

The town's planters are shorter, wider versions of the black steel garbage vestibules, which have been regularly spilling over in the downtown core.

Garbage bins are emptied on Tuesdays in Hagersville, with the county increasing pickup during summer tourist season. Phillips said that some businesses have emptied full containers outside their stores, but that doing so can be a safety issue for local merchants.

"There was a store who was regularly emptying. They're active community participants, but when staff came across needles, the practice was stopped," said Phillips. "They didn't want to, and when I collected (this garbage), I used special gloves."

The county has begun to put extra bins along the Catch the Ace ticket queue on Thursdays, and collects them on Friday morning, but Phillips said he did not want Catch the Ace crowds perceived as the sole cause. He blames those who can't tell a planter from a garbage bin.

"The problem is first guys put something in there, then everybody else thinks, 'oh, that must be the garbage can,' and that piles up and piles up and piles up," he said. "And it's not just local, food containers have labels from establishments not in this town, and I've been hearing from other (chamber) members that cars have pulled up and dropped garbage and moved on."

The chamber plans to create plywood covers this fall to solve the extra dumping in the planters.

Meanwhile, Phillips is asking people to "take that extra step."

"If it's around the corner, please make the effort to put it into its proper place," he said. "For businesses, clean it up, take pride in your community as well."