As costs for garbage collection and recycling activities continue to increase, Battleford Town Council may be asked to look at changes in current practice.
At Monday's meeting of councillors and administration to deliberate over the 2014 budget, Town Administrator Sheryl Ballendine said she and the works and utilities superintendent, Kevin Chaykowski, are in the process on compiling a report on garbage, recycling and composting. The report will be presented to council some time in the near future.
The report should prompt council to look at both short-term and long-term considerations, Ballendine indicated. Long-term considerations may include costs for decommissioning the Town now-closed landfill site. Short-term considerations include the fact that the garbage pickup truck is worn out. The capital budget contains a $260,000 item to replace it.
Currently, the town collects the garbage from the black bins provided by the town once a week. According to the season, it also picks up compost from the green bins available for purchase by town residents.
To address recycling, the town has a single stream collection area near the Alex Dillabough Centre. Blue bins for recycling have also been made available to town residents through Loraas Environmental.
This year's budget estimate for disposal is set at $164,000, up from 154,292 in 2013. Chakowski said the tipping fees for the City of North Battleford's Waste Management Facility, where the Town takes its garbage, have not gone up. But Loraas Environmental costs may go up.
In the utilities budget Chaykowski has included $85,000 for parts and for the ongoing program to switching all water meters over to remote reading, which allows a staff member to simply drive by the building and read the meter remotely. About 200 of these changeovers can be done per year.
