Stuck between a curb and a road, St. John's resident has garbage pickup woes
Patricia Andrews doesn't think she could possibly get her garbage any closer to the curb to get it picked up.
But she said there have been multiple occasions when she's put her bags out on garbage collection day, only to find they've been left there by city crews.
"If it were a snow bank, I would totally understand," Andrews says.
It's as close to the curb as I can get it without having to go out onto the sidewalk. - Patricia Andrews
"We have to take care of city workers, they work hard and I don't expect anybody to climb a bank to get my garbage, but that wasn't the case. It was literally … if the bank was a foot, that's exaggerating. Highly."
Andrews lives on Pennywell Road, a busy street with not much room from the front of her house, to the sidewalk, to the street.
When she got in touch with the City of St. John's about the problem, she left a message, asking for the manager in charge to get in touch.
Andrews said when she didn't hear back, she posted on Facebook and tried calling the city again, eventually getting in touch with the manager.
"He said it wasn't enough on the curb, and I said it is on the curb, it's as close to the curb as I can get it without having to go out onto the sidewalk, which is a hazard to pedestrians and children," Andrews told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.
She asked if she should have put her bags on the sidewalk instead, and said she was told that yes, that would be better.
"I said absolutely not," Andrews said.
"If that happens and somebody, a walker, a child, a parent, has to go out onto the street to pass my garbage and gets knocked down, God forbid, I do believe it would be Patricia Andrews that got sued for that, not the city."
Picked up eventually
CBC News contacted the city to ask about the policy.
"The resident is correct in that the garbage bag(s) should be placed close to the sidewalk, not on the sidewalk," the statement read.
Crews went to her home Thursday evening and did pick up the two bags of garbage she had put out.
"I think the city of St. John's does great work and I greatly appreciate their efforts in all that they do," Andrews said, but adding that she takes great measures to ensure her garbage, like broken glass, is placed as safely as possible inside the bag to ensure worker safety, as well as placing her garbage bags away from icy patches on the sidewalk to minimize the risk of someone slipping.
"I'm happy they came and picked it up, but seriously it should never have come to that."
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