Springtime trash is piling up in Windsor

Garbage is piling up on Elm Street. Trash litters the front of 310 Hanna St. And you could take a seat on part of discarded sectional on Victoria Avenue.

• Dead cat, garbage dumped in Windsor alley
• Garbage can sales up as a new Windsor bylaw approaches

CBC Windsor's Dale Molnar spent Monday getting to the bottom of the trash heap, trying to figure out why garbage is piling up around the city.

Last week, RickHendriksen, who lives at 476 Elm Ave. said he found a pile of garbage, including a dead cat, in the alley behind his house Tuesday morning.

He thinks there's more garbage piling up around the city because people aren't using hard-sided cans.

"I don't think this is going to be an ending problem with the new city bylaw as far as picking up garbage," said Hendricksen. "If it's not in a container they won't touch it, this is what's going to happen people are just going to start dumping it in the alleys."

"If you look up and down these alleys you'll find garbage all over," he continued. "In fact right behind you there's mattresses, garbage dumped down there."

The city passed a bylaw last year that requires residents to use had-sided trash cans. It went into effect in the summer of 2014.

Hendriksen claims his former neighbour didn't use them, and piled garbage bags in the backyard and then moved away leaving piles of rubbish behind.

Ward 3 councillor victim of dumping

Ward 3 councillor Rino Bortolin has even been a victim of dumping. He said people have dumped couches and other garbage in the alley next to his restaurant.

The garbage container bylaw could have rolled out better by the city, said Bortolin.

"People would complain because in certain neighbourhoods they would be the only ones with the hard-sided containers and they would be stolen after about a week or so," said Bortolin.

"A rollout of the program similar to what we did with the tall blue boxes where every household were to get one and we would add that cost onto your taxes for the year might have been more prudent. This way everybody would have one."

Bortolin said city council will likely look at the issue with its urban blight program, admits it's tough to crack down on dumpers.

"What's to stop someone from just dumping outside their back fence and saying someone else dumped it," he said.

If someone is caught dumping in the city, there is a first offence fine of $125.