Rob- The city landfill, the other big issue over the course of the past few weeks. The plan was in place, and we were set to build north of Moose Jaw in the RM of Moose Jaw, but the RM rejected the application. So essentially, we’re back to the drawing board?
Maryse- Not fully, because all the work that the team did in the last year, the consultation we did again, in that process, a lot of listening, a lot of communication back and forth between the RM and us, between the residents and us.
We’ve learned a great deal; we made modifications following the input that we received from the RM and the residents. So, now it’s to continue the partnership with the RM to discuss and find a suitable location for this landfill.
We had a meeting, a very productive meeting last week with the RM reeve and the administrator on the way forward. We’re both going our own ways to talk to our respective councils.
Moose Jaw residents can expect that we’ll update our own City Council in the next six to eight weeks on the way forward. So that’s coming. But like I said, it’s not wasted time. Not the answer the city was looking for, for sure, but in the end, we did learn, and we have a good way forward.
Rob- I'm reading here from a June 20th story on Discover Moose Jaw, City Manager Maryse Carmichael said the city has three project teams looking at the current landfill, the second looking at the technical side of the future landfill, and a third team led by Director of Planning and Development Michell Sansen looking at the location for the future solid waste management facility.
So, this is a major project with a lot of people working on this.
Maryse- Absolutely, and it’s an important project. We have some responsibilities as city administration, one of them is to take care of all our residents' garbage. So, then our current landfill, we know, will come to max capacity in the next few years. We have to find an option for that. Garbage will continue to pile up, so we need to find a place to put it.
Rob- So, it's a work in progress?
Maryse- It's a work in progress.