The City of Yorkton has again declared a Spring Yard Waste Clean Up Week from May 12 to May 17 but under much tighter controls regarding what residents can take to the landfill for free.
Michael Buchholzer Environmental Services Director , told the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday, the week is "to encourage residents of the City of Yorkton to clean up their properties to help improve the image and appeal of our community."
To encourage participation, City Council has previously waived the landfill tipping fees for residential garbage hauled in by city residents by car, half-ton truck or single axle utility trailer. This campaign would strictly apply to schools and City of Yorkton residents hauling in their own debris that has accumulated on their yard over the winter month, he added.
"This program has been well received," said Buchholzer, with 1200 participants in 2014.
However the program has raised concerns.
"Unfortunately due to the overwhelming success it was difficult to monitor material entering the landfill, and could have been the cause of last year's landfill fire," said Buchholzer.
This fire caused the landfill to be closed for 2 days, violated our Permit to Operate, caused extensive line up delays for residents and commercial haulers and contractors plus cost the City $30,000.00 to extinguish, he explained.
"To alleviate some of these problems we are modifying the program for this year and will re-evaluate in 2015," said Buchholzer.
This year for Yorkton residents to be eligible for the program they must meet the criteria as indicated below:
*Present to the scale attendant, a valid driver's licence with a Yorkton civic address (no box numbers will be allowed under the program).
*Cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, ½ ton truck body styles, and single axle trailers are eligible.
*Material being disposed of must meet the "winter debris" criteria.
""Winter debris" will be identified as broken tree limbs, grass mixed with garbage and debris collected in your yard during the winter months. This program will not cover tree disposal, tree pruning, construction or demolition debris, household garbage such as furniture, lumber, rugs, beds, or household items. The landfill operator will evaluate the load, the type of vehicle and address to determine if it is acceptable under the free program. Any loads not qualifying under the program will be accepted with the appropriate charges applied," said Buchholzer.
The program, which was unanimously supported by Council, will run during regular landfill hours Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 7:00 pm and Saturday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm., has been reviewed and approved by the Environmental Committee.
