HAY RIVER
Starting as soon as it is feasible, the town will be levying a fee of $18.50 per month per household for garbage pick-up and management -- but things are not that simple for corridor residents.

Mayor Andrew Cassidy, right, presents the new funding structure for the collection and management of garbage to a group of corridor residents last week. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

These residents are being given the option to pay the $18.50 a month to receive some sort of pick-up service or paying $10 to tip a load of garbage at the dump.

While residents of Hay River proper have the option of taking their garbage to the dump, they have had to pay $5 per load -- now going up to $10 -- while corridor residents have been able to do so free of charge.

"We certainly realize the unique situation you're in," said Mayor Andrew Cassidy at a public meeting with corridor residents last week. "We're not trying to force anything new on residents, not trying to ram anything down anyone's throats. As you all know, I live out there too and I have some skin in the game."

About a dozen people turned out for the meeting, voicing concerns over the feasibility of having dumpsters where garbage would collect and attract wildlife, how often they themselves bring garbage to the dump and the particulars of the service they would receive in exchange for the monthly levy. However, all who spoke were primarily worried about fairness.

"The problem I have is that I'm going to pay $18.50 like everyone in town but I don't get the same service," said Evellyn Coleman, referring to a plan that would see neighbourhood dumpsters put in the corridor and picked up weekly. "I still have to put my garbage in a vehicle and haul it somewhere, where someone in town can just walk to the end of their driveway."

At the meeting, Cassidy presented a few options and discussed the possibility of a pass system which would allow levy-payers to dump extra garbage for free as well as the idea of curbside pickup. The clear message throughout, however, was that whatever residents decide, it cannot be a piecemeal thing. Development blocks -- like Delancey Estates, Pattersons, Smith's and Paradise Gardens -- will have to choose whether to opt in or out of the service as a whole, not on a household-by-household basis.

As it stands, the municipality has estimated that it costs about $140 per year to collect and manage one tonne of waste in the landfill. With reports dating back 30 years saying the facility only has a few years left in its life, the town has to change its ways in order to prevent what would be a very costly and possibly dangerous environmental situation. The goal is not only to create a system in which the solid waste management facility is self-funded and to save for its closure and the creation of a new facility but also to encourage residents to divert their garbage toward recycling and composting efforts to extend its life.

Lisa Smith, corridor resident and organizer of the Corridor Ratepayers Association's upcoming general meeting, suggested the municipality hammer out exactly what the options would be -- twice or once-weekly pickup, dumpsters at discrete but convenient locations and regular tipping fees -- which residents could put to a vote at said meeting.

"Current council is taking responsibility and making unpopular decisions, knowing we can't continue like this," said Cassidy. "It's unfortunate that it has fallen into our laps and the laps of the current taxpayers."