The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A city councillor is questioning whether tipping fees at the landfill have really prompted residents to dump more of their garbage in the bush. At Tuesday's council meeting, concerned resident Fawn Brown asked that the city reconsider the tipping fees. 'Unfortunately in the past year or so, in my opinion since there has been a fee to access the local dump, the amount of garbage that people are leaving in the bush has dramatically risen,' Brown wrote in a letter. Not only is the garbage 'an eyesore,' she wrote, 'but it will also bring bears and other wildlife closer to town...' While sympathetic to Brown's concerns, Coun. Bill Hanson doesn't blame tipping fees. 'We drove around before we put the tipping fees in and there was lots of garbage in the bush already,' he said. 'The tipping fees are not going to stop people from throwing garbage in the bush. People have been doing it for years. I wish we had some sort of magic way to stop them from doing that.' Brown included with her letter photos of a pile of garbage at 'The Hoop,' a section of abandoned highway near Flin Flon. But Coun. Hanson estimated that the pile of garbage has been there for about five years. Council does not appear set to retract the tipping fees, though as early as next month the fee for 'construction' materials for lighter vehicles should be eliminated. Brown had earlier shared her concerns about the tipping fees and garbage in the bush in a letter to the editor in The Reminder. In an unrelated matter, Coun. Karen MacKinnon passed on the Main Street Committee's thanks to the city for putting up streamers and hanging flower pots along Main Street. The city did not purchase the streamers and flowers, but did agree to supply the labour to put them into place in a bid to beautify the downtown core. Council also voted to appoint Katie Anderson, a respected citizen, as the returning officer for the 2014 municipal election.
