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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor The City of Flin Flon is moving to add another new fee at the landfill as Mayor George Fontaine promises a better explanation of council's decisions. Council last week approved first reading of a motion to impose a $25 charge on anyone bringing uncovered or unsecured garbage to the dump. 'That $25 charge is cheap compared to the fine you could get if the police happen to beat you to the dump and give you a ticket for an unsecured load,' said Coun. Skip Martin, who made the motion. Coun. Martin said the new fee will 'help the city to clean up the roads that are being littered with people's garbage (falling out) on their way to the dump.' Coun. Karen MacKinnon said said the fee also addresses 'a safety issue' from items 'flying out of vehicles.' The new charge will be on top of the tipping fees that took effect at the landfill last week. It will apply to all uncovered or unsecured loads, including certain recyclables that are exempt from the tipping fees. See 'Final...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 Council must still approve a second and third reading of the motion, which could happen as soon as July 17. The first reading passed unanimously. The motion came shortly before Mayor Fontaine announced that he will be publishing articles to thoroughly explain council's decisions. Though no start date has been set, the write-ups will begin appearing in the city's full-page Reminder ads that run each Friday. 'Some of the decisions we have made here have been contentious and I'm told that they're not well enough explained,' Mayor Fontaine said. 'I will attempt to be putting some explanations of council's of some of the things that we've done, which would include things like tipping fees and so on, into the paper with our explanation of why we thought they were necessary and why we've gone ahead and done the things that we've done.' Mayor Fontaine said some of the coffee shop talk on city affairs is not entirely accurate, so 'we'll try and make sure that we explain some of these things as they go on.' Recent actions and comments by council have sparked debate within the community. In addition to the new tipping fees, council has discussed the notion of annexing cottage subdivisions and imposing a new service charge on all homes with the effect of raising what low-end homeowners pay. Positive feedback Mayor Fontaine said the feedback he has fielded has been 'considerably more' positive than negative, though he has heard both sides. 'But I have to say that the number of positive responses in trying to take a hold of our problems and actually do something about them, these are things that people have appreciated and we shall continue to do that,' he said. Other highlights from the July 3 council meeting: Council voted to purchase a 2012 backhoe for more than $104,000, with funds coming from the equipment replacement reserve fund. It replaces a 2004 model. Council approved construction of a new home at 183 Murton Blvd. Council voted to donate $1,200 to the Flin Flon Aboriginal Friendship Centre to help defray the costs of the recent National Aboriginal Day celebration. Council voted to donate $650 to the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce to help cover the costs of its Celebrating Communities gala scheduled for October. Council voted to vary the lot requirements at 58 Tweedsmuir St. to permit the construction of a new deck. Councillors took turns praising this year's edition of the Trout Festival, with Coun. Karen MacKinnon calling the weekend 'fantastic.' Mayor George Fontaine spoke highly of the festival as well, including the Cabar-eh concert at the R.H. Channing Auditorium and the Flin Flon Fire Department's 75th Anniversary Banquet, also held at the auditorium. He said Flin Flon has a very professional firefighting force and that council is committed to ensuring firefighters have the tools they need to keep their job safe and manageable. Coun. Colleen McKee congratulated Coun. Tim Babcock, president of the festival, and his wife Hollee, the vice-president, on a job well done. Coun. Babcock commended the volunteers that made the festival a reality and said organizers were pleased with how everything went.
