Chris Clegg
South Peace News
A request to further study the advantages and disadvantages of the annual Big Lakes County Household Waste Round- up was defeated at council’s Sept. 13 meeting.
Councillor Jim Zabolotniuk requested a cost analysis after examining the expenses provided by grants officer Samantha Snow. He would be the only councillor to vote in favour of the analysis.
Numbers show it cost council $5,985.04 including $1,638.60 at Enilda, $1,121.16 at Faust, $975.32 at Grouard, $975.32 at Grouard and $1,274.64 at Kinuso. It was the higher cost at Enilda which caught Zabolotniuk’s eye.
“Enilda has less population but labour is higher,” he noted, asking why.
Council heard the cost of hauling to the regional landfill was the reason.
Councillor Tyler Airth also had concerns.
“Are we paying people to not take their waste to the dump?” he asked.
Zabolotniuk asked for the review (cost analysis) before the 2024 budget is approved.
Councillor Ann Stewart disagreed and was the only one to speak against the idea at the meeting.
“Six thousand dollars, is this a lot of money?” she asked.
“I think it’s (waste roundup) really important,” she added.
Zabolotniuk replied residents have several options where to haul waste.
“We have three waste sites where they can take waste to,” he said.