Sunday, August 14, 2011

Please Count The Exact Number Of Chairs, Mattresses and Dressers

There is a large pile of bulk items in front of a house down the street from me. The houses along that stretch of my street have no back lane, so garbage is placed on the front street in the black carts. That means bulk items get piled on the boulevard awaiting removal.
I took a picture of the pile of bulk items back on August 3-4, but did not submit it to 311. I need the exact house address in order to submit a pickup request, and I could not read the address on the house.
It is actually a bit of a process in finding the correct address. First I would have to locate an address on one of the houses near the one in question, preferably a neighbouring property. If I do not get the address when I am on the street, I go to google and check the street view for the nearest address that is posted on a house and is visible. Then I go to the City of Winnipeg Property Assessment Search website and start typing possible addresses that may be associated with the property in question. It is best to get the addresses on both sides of the one in question, to ensure I have the correct address. I would hate to give 311 the wrong information and have them tell me that I made a mistake. Especially with this sort of report, as it may involve City By-Laws. For that, I definitely need the right address, or By-Laws may tell me the bulk items are not associated with the house I have lodged a complaint against. But really, I just want this garbage removed.
So, I finally took the time today to search google, and the City Property Assessment site, and I found the correct address.
This is the email I sent to 311 today:
There is a large pile of bulk items on the front blvd of xxx xxx Ave that has been there since the beginning of August. I have attached a photo of the pile. There are mattresses, couches, chairs and dressers on the blvd.
Thankyou.
And I included a photo:
I thought I took care of everything, and the issue would be dealt with. Apparently not. It seems I have to go out and count the number of chairs, mattresses and dressers. Sorry, if you think I am going near that bedbug infested pile of crap on that front boulevard, you are sadly mistaken. And if you think I have that kind of time on my hands to devote to that pile of crap, again, you are sadly mistaken.
Here is the actual reply I got from 311:
Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email. There has already been a collection request put through to the department for the 2 couches. The department will require the exact amount of chairs, mattresses and dressers that are located on the front boulevard of xxx xxx Ave. Please respond at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for contacting Winnipeg 311.

Sincerely,
xxxxx
Service Representative
311 Contact Centre

Now, if they already got a request to remove some crap from the boulevard, wouldn't that be enough? If I advised them that there are also dressers, mattresses and chairs in the pile, wouldn't that be enough? And if I attached a photo of the pile, wouldn't THAT be enough? Apparently not. Apparently citizens reporting crap on the boulevard have nothing better to do with their time than to count items for 311. Not this lady.
Just schedule the damn truck, and pick up the crap on the boulevard, would ya!

4 comments:

  1. You can find addresses this way.

    http://www.winnipegassessment.com/asmttax/english/propertydetails/

    Put in your property and hit enter, then click on "Value map". You can zoom out and find the addresses of properties adjacent.

    Jeff

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  2. and if that doesn't work, ask your Councillor's EA to check it up on CityNet. They have access to a map of all properties in the city.

    311 requires extremely precise directions. Like if you report a pothole they want to know how wide, how deep, and where exactly it is. Freaking ridiculous

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  3. While you are at it, do a little dance and throw flowers....I feel your pain. My back lane is full of mattresses. How does that happen? The other side of main on magnus has a pile of personal possessions that includes cans of soup and fake xmas trees. Where does all this crap come from?

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  4. I wonder how the BFI men think when they see all of this junk in front or on the side of the dumpsters. They don't comment but if I were driving the trucks, I would think the lowest of the low keep making my job more difficult. The trucks don't have room for 5 mattresses in the back....or 3 couches. Since we pay for this out of our taxes, all of Winnipeg is paying for these jerks who unload this junk in our backlanes. When people put big stuff in the dumpsters, they have to make more trips. This is the law of physical space.

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