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.
Mayor and CAO talk trash Snow Lake's new garbage system has been a fact of life for close to five months now, and from all indications it is well accepted and operating as expected. 'We don't have a lot of issues,' Jeff Precourt, chief administrative officer for the town, said of the system. 'Once we had the initial roll out and got everybody to put the can in the right spot, it went well.' Both Precourt and Mayor Clarence Fisher say there are a couple hitches with the new system, but both can be easily solved with a bit of education. Expanding on his comment about getting people to put their garbage receptacles in the right spot, Precourt added: 'Funny, most people had it in the right spot, but having it facing the right direction seemed to be the problem. Randy (Compton, the public works employee on the truck) did a great job getting out a talking to people and making sure they understood.' Mayor Fisher says that as far as the success of the program itself, a lot of the kudos need to go to Compton. 'He's done a very good job with it,' said the mayor. 'We were worried rolling it out (the system) in 40-below weather, but we've had very few issues. The biggest one, that I personally have, is people leaving those cans on the side of the road. People have to get it back on to their property and off the public access.' It has been noted in the past that if a car hits a receptacle or if it is ruined in some other way, people will be required, at their own expense, to purchase a new one. Garbage won't be picked up unless it is in one of these receptacles. Moving onto another garbage-related issue, both men were asked what the consensus was in respect to a recent letter from a local couple drawing attention to a question numerous Snow Lake people have been asking: Do we really need twice-weekly garbage pickup? 'There are a number of issues there that all roll together,' said Mayor Fisher in reply. 'When you look at the figures, people are still not that happy with recycling at the trailers (outside drop off). I understand that. I would absolutely like to see us go to a one day a week garbage pickup and one day a week curbside recycling. How close to that are we, I'm not sure. We need a place to handle the recyclablesÉ we would have to build a building for it to be handled in and then shipped out. 'But I think it's a valid point. There are four people living at our house, we recycle everything we can and even with the four of us, I only have to put my garbage out, probably once every three pickups. 'On the other side, we've heard from those who have two or three people living in the house and the garbage bin isn't big enough for even twice a week pickup.' This is where another of the couple's suggestions comes into the mix: Should those who require more pickups shoulder the extra cost? This garnered the reply, 'well,' and a chuckle from the mayor. In Snow Lake you can't have a discussion on garbage without the subject of bears coming up, and this conversation was no different. 'In respect to the garbage situation with bearsÉ we've had this discussion and it has been a concern around town in regard to the new cans,' said Precourt. 'More or less the discussion has involved how or why things are any different than when the garbage cans all sat in the back lanes. 'Obviously bears got into those cans as well. These cans are at least mobileÉ take the can and roll it into a shed or your garage until it is time to put it out. These cans actually offer you an advantage over the old system being as they are mobile!' One final matter in respect to garbage was discussed and this was the revelation that there is money allotted in the 2013 budget for an increase in the hours that the landfill is open. Mayor Fisher says that this was one thing that he heard a lot on. 'Even me, I work days, Monday to Friday, so the only time that I can get to the dump is on Saturdays,' he related. 'We've heard that from a number of people, so we decided to extend the hours and if people are renovating, doing things around their house, it gives them a little more time to get in there.' Another issue is the necessity of having a landfill engineering study, required by the provincial government, in order to ascertain the dump's capacity and specifications in years to come. The City of Flin Flon was also required to do this last year. The Reminder reported that community's study was budgeted at $68,332, but in the end cost $172,300. The added expenses came from ground drilling that wasn't included in initial bids. Snow Lake council has also discussed a large item pickup. The mayor says this will happen later in the summer when there is more labour available in the form of summer students. My Take on Snow Lake runs Fridays.
