Town of Taber
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Engineering & Public Works
- To report a problem with your road or sidewalk, please contact Engineering & Public Works at 403-223-6018. Or you can submit an online service request and we will respond as soon as possible.
For problems with water, wastewater, or stormwater, please contact us at 403-223-5501. If this is an emergency, please contact our 24-hour emergency number at 403-634-8668.
Please note that these numbers are not for utility account setups or billing information. For assistance with your utility account, please contact our Utilities Clerk.
- If you have an emergency that requires Public Works' attention after our regular business hours, please contact our on-call cell number at 403-330-9384.
Garbage and Recycling Initiative
- For the Brown (Residual Waste) Cart, you MUST bag your garbage.
- Blue (Recyclable) Carts do not need to have items bagged.
- Bags are banned in the Green Carts (Compostables), even if they are labelled "compostable." But if you would prefer, you may line your kitchen catcher or cart with paper, paper towel, or even pizza boxes. The carts and kitchen catchers can also be washed.
- Whichever system you used before the carts, that's the system you will continue to use! If you originally put your garbage in the alley, put your new carts in the alley! If you used front-curb pickup for your garbage, your new carts should go on the front curb as well! If you're unsure which location you are, give our Public Works Shop a call at 403-223-6018 or email at pss@taber.ca and we will be happy to help!
- Each household receives 3 carts and 1 kitchen catcher. The three carts will be Blue (Recycling), Green (Compost), and Brown (Garbage), and the kitchen catcher is a small container to store compostables.
- Businesses and Commercial residents will remain using their existing system. A new plan will be coming soon!
- People in apartments will continue using the bin system. A plan for apartments will be coming soon.
- Please leave your carts at the residence. Each cart has a serial number which is linked to the property address. If you are building a new house, we will deliver new carts to that location when you are ready for collection.
- During the winter, please ensure carts are free of snow and ice, and are visible to the collection crew. Please do not place carts on top of snow banks.
- Recycling and composting will reduce the amount of garbage you have. If you are doing renovations or cleaning out rooms or the yard, we would recommend you use a free Transfer Station voucher. If you consistently have excess waste, please give us a call at our Public Works Shop at 403-223-6018 and we will go over your options.
- Each cart has a serial address that can be tracked. We will do our best to track down your cart(s). Give our Public Works Shop a call at 403-223-6018 or email us and we will be happy to locate them for you.
- Your collection day depends on where you live in Taber! To see the maps and calendars for collection, follow this link!
To offset the costs to residents of disposing additional waste, the Town has initiated a coupon voucher system. Instead of having Town crews collecting waste from the alleys once a year, the Town will be issuing vouchers to cover some of the disposal fees for large items that need to be taken to the Transfer Station. These coupons can be used by residents to dispose of additional waste that typically comes from spring cleaning, such as: appliances, old furniture, scraps of lumber, demolition materials, broken concrete, etc.
How it Works:
Each household in Taber will receive three (3) coupons per year. These coupons cover the disposal of 250kg of waste, and must be presented at the Taber Transfer Weigh Scale when used. The coupons can be picked up at the Town Office (A 4900 50th Street). Please bring ID with you in case we need to verify your address.
- Place your cart(s) in the alley or on the curb by 7 AM the morning of your collection day, or the night before. Please don't be late or your carts will be missed! Carts will be collected before 7 PM on your collection day.
- Front Curb: Carts should be on the street with the wheels against the curb. Make sure the arrow at the top of the lid is pointing to the centre of the road. Please leave at least an arm length (1 metre) between the carts and other objects.
Alley: Carts should be on your side of the alley with the wheels facing your house. Make sure the arrow on the lid is pointing to the centre of the alley. Please leave at least 1 metre between the cart and other objects, and a 3 metre space above the cart.
Three reasons mainly: to save money, to help the environment, and to show municipal leadership.
With the new system, we pay approximately $30 per tonne to dispose of our compostable material, as opposed to the $110/tonne we were paying for landfill tipping rates. The Town transfers about 110 tonnes of garbage a week!
The new system places less garbage in the landfill, reducing energy and greenhouse gasses as well as increasing our recyclables.
Finally, there are very few places in Alberta that have composting programs. Taber's 3-cart system will show that composting programs are possible and make us a leader in small town municipal management.
- When the carts are full, it is unlikely that they will blow over. However, when the carts are empty, there is a chance they will fall down. The carts are rugged, so they should withstand falling over. If a problem occurs with your cart, or they become damaged, please call the Public Works Shop (402-223-6018) and we will solve the problem.
- Rinsing your bins out occasionally should mitigate any risk of smells.
- Yes, the Town will continue to offer the program in Spring and Fall (typically May and October). We will be spending one week in each area to pick up tree branches and leaves. Information on the program is released closer to the dates for each collection area in our Corn Husk Chronicles and on our social media accounts.
Missed Collection for Waste Carts
Collectors have from 7 AM to 7 PM on collection days to pick up carts, but the routes may chance. Please do not try to predict the time or route.
- Sometimes the route changes, the truck needs to be emptied/fixed, there’s a delay in the collection, or contractors may have prior commitments or other reasons for delaying/changing the route they take. This makes the actual collection time of your carts unpredictable and subject to change at any time on collection days.
- Often residents will phone the Shop to report their carts as “missed,” stating that “the truck always picks up my carts at 9 AM and they haven’t been by.” However, the collector has until 7 PM, and so the carts are not actually considered missed until after that.
- You cannot accurately predict the time your carts will be collected based on previous times, as the routes are subject to change without notice. Sometimes your carts may be picked up at the same time each week, but there may be other times it is picked up earlier or later than what you are used to. We cannot guarantee the exact time your carts may be collected on any given day.
- The only way to be sure your carts are out in time for collection is to have them ready and waiting at 7 AM on collection day. Trying to put them out any other time after 7 AM runs the risk of your carts being missed for collection.
You carts may not be collected for any of these reasons:
- Your carts were not placed out for collection at 7 AM on collection day and they were subsequently missed.
- Your carts are too close to cars, trees, powerlines/poles, etc. Having your carts too close to other objects means our truck arms can't reach or are likely to cause damage to property. Make sure to leave an arm's length (3ft) of space between and behind carts and other objects, and at least 10ft above the cart (away from trees, power poles, etc)
- Your carts are overfilled (the lid cannot close), or there are unacceptable materials in the cart. Please make sure the lid on your carts close fully and that you are placing correct items in the correct carts.
- Mistakes happen! We appreciate your patience if they do. Contact us at 403-223-6018 or email us so we can investigate the cause of your missed cart if none of the above issues are applicable.
- Collectors have from 7 AM to 7 PM on collection days to pick up carts.
If after the collection deadline of 7 PM on your collection day you find you carts aren't collection (and you put them out on time at 7 AM), that means they have been missed.
If this happens, please contact our Shop at 403-223-6018 or by email with your address and we can investigate what the issue may have been.