BATTLEFORD - There was discussion, but ultimately nothing settled at town council with respect to garbage collection in Battleford in 2022.
At their meeting Tuesday, council ultimately voted against a plan to make collection biweekly year-round, but the issue is not settled and it is possible council could go with biweekly collection for an additional couple of months, in September and October.
The current schedule is for weekly garbage collection from May 1 to Oct. 31 and biweekly the rest of the year. The proposal before council called for a switch to year-round biweekly collection, but compost and recycling pickup would remain the same.
According to the town’s CAO Ash Alam, one reason for adopting a year-round schedule is to meet targets under the province’s Solid Waste Management Strategy to reduce garbage by 30 per cent by 2030. The thinking was there would also be savings on waste management expenses and on wear and tear on the trucks, as well as a reduction on tipping fees.
But council was divided about the proposal. Councillor Judy Pruden voiced support for the idea, and suggested encouraging residents to put empty bottles in the blue bins while food scraps should go in the green bin instead of into the garbage.
“I would rather encourage people to use their compost bin or get a compost bin,” said Pruden.
Councillor Doug Laing acknowledged there would be some challenges but said he was in favour; he indicated he liked the idea of residents getting a second bin, something residents called for.
But while he was open to the idea, Councillor David George worried about the public reaction, and expressed concern about what would happen during the summer months from waste odour such as from diapers.
“I’m not opposed to trying it. There are some situations, though, we should be looking at and talking to those people, to make sure they were good with it.”
On the other side, Councillor Kevin Russell said he was “extremely against it.”
Russell pointed to the original decision to go biweekly, saying they made the decision to go with winter months because of concerns about the stink in the summer. He also didn't like reducing the schedule to biweekly in general.
“It’s the whole perception from the taxpayers and ratepayers of the community that we’re trying to do less, but charge the same,” said Russell.
He added the smell from having bins out for two weeks “gets atrocious … it’s not well liked.”
Russell also said he had talked to Mayor Ames Leslie and one of the other councillors who were not in attendance Tuesday, and indicated they were also not in favour.
In the end, council voted against going biweekly year-round. Instead, George supported a compromise proposal: shorten the weekly pickup period from May 1 to the end of August and go biweekly the rest of the year, including in September and October.
That will come back to council for further discussion at a future meeting.
