They often have the appeal of junk mail or spam on an email account, but Centre Wellington councillors agreed here on Monday there is little they can do about flyers that turn into litter.
Public Works Director Ken Elder presented the discussion from an operations committee meeting to the committee of the whole, and noted that while there are problems in rural areas with flyers being tossed into driveways, there are similar problems in urban areas.
Operations committee chairman Walt Visser noted the problem “comes up annually.”
Elder said the township had its lawyers consider the issue in 2006, and council discussed it again in 2007. But, he said, the problem is it is difficult to determine who is responsible because the company making them does not deliver them. He said the township even attempted to find out “who profits” from those flyers.
Elder said the township considered the issue at an operations committee meeting last April, and determined a bylaw is unlikely to help because of inadequate enforcement.
The committee also considered licences for delivery companies, but noted it is often impossible to determine who is doing those deliveries.
Sometimes it is local companies, but Elder said often companies will hire outsiders to do that work. If there is a problem, the distribution company is long gone and unlikely to work in the area again for some time, making it difficult to catch.
The companies could be charged with littering, but Elder noted the flyers would have to land on township property, and officials would have to catch them in the act.
In that 2007 meeting, the committee agreed to compile of list of local delivery companies, and contact them if there are problems. He said sometimes speaking with company officials will help, at least for a while.
He said it is particularly frustrating to watch flyers pile up in snow drifts at places like a cottage lane, where the driveway has been closed all winter and delivery people know no one is there – but they keep on tossing the flyers into the lane.
Councillor Kirk McElwain was sympathetic. He belongs to a group that cleans the highway from Inverhaugh to Elora every spring, and said, after coffee cups, flyers are second in abundance in the ditches.
Elder said the flyers often get buried in snow, freeze, and cause problems for snowblowers.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj noted a citizen had brought a bunch of flyers to the municipal office, sparking the latest round of talks.
She said the municipality’s environmental committee might also want to consider the issue.
It meets this Friday.
Councillor Bob Foster said he has received a number of complaints, and a large number of people do not want the flyers. He said the township should consider a bylaw, particularly against flyers delivered in plastic bags.
But Visser said the township’s legal queries determined that it cannot prevent people from receiving information, and some people actually want the flyers.
“People have a right to distribute them,” he said, citing the law. He added there are many loopholes in the law that enable flyer distribution.
Foster said the township should show some leadership, because this is an environmental issue.
But Visser said, “If you can’t enforce it [a bylaw], you’re wasting your time. It’s very difficult; it’s very expensive.”
He added, “I agree with Ken Elder” to use moral suasion.
Visser noted that people can put up signs saying No Junk Mail in their mailboxes, but it still gets delivered.
Elder also said flyer delivery people have the right to toss flyers onto private property.
He added that there are other types of problems, where people will dump 5,000 flyers in a single spot. He said the township picks up a dump truck load of garbage almost every month.
Foster argued of flyers, “This is basically garbage; it’s thrown about on the streets.”
Visser responded, “Many people don’t consider it garbage. Unless you catch them throwing it on township property …”
Council finally agreed to contact the companies about their distribution practices, and also asked the environmental committee to consider the issue.
