By Jeff Labine

Nipawin landfill looking to change ownership

Jun 22, 2017 | 5:00 PM

Nipawin and its neighbours are working on a deal to bring the local landfill under new ownership.

The plan is to transfer all assets and liabilities of the landfill to the newly created Boreal Area Regional Waste Authority, which is still in the midst of being incorporated. The new regional waste authority will be made up of six municipalities in the area including Nipawin, the rural municipality of Nipawin, Aylsham and Tobin Lake.

The offer price for the landfill will be priced at a dollar.

Nipawin CAO Barry Elliott said the municipalities will be equal partners in ownership of the landfill.

“It’s an opportunity to work more closely with a larger cross section of our neighbours,” he said. “There’s an opportunity to also defray or perhaps expand the catchment area for some of the costs because landfills are a costly venture. All the municipalities recognize we all have a responsibility for a safe landfill operation.”

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Although ownership is spread out equally, Elliott explained Nipawin, as the biggest municipality in the area, will be the largest contributor to the landfill operations. Generally, the cost to operate the landfill is $550,000 yearly.

Elliott said the six municipalities appear to be leading a new trend where landfills will service an entire region as the province is not interesting in continuing to run the hundreds of landfills across Saskatchewan. He suspects as landfills begin to close, more municipalities will band together to find alternative ways to operate them.

“I think in this regard, our regional waste authority has really taken the lead in terms of preparing itself for that eventuality and looking to make itself more of a regional facility,” he said. “The site itself is well ready for considerable input. We’ll just have to keep monitoring it.”

Elliott didn’t believe the change of ownership will impact services to residents in any of the municipalities. He said the conglomerate understand there’s a good service being offered right now and they don’t want to do anything to disrupt it.

He added the incorporation of the regional waste authority is nearly completed and the first meeting is expected to take place within a few months. The hope is to have everything finalized within the year, but Elliott said that’s difficult to say for certain.

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter