The Week of May 9 to 14 has been declared Spring Yard Easter Clean Up Week in Yorkton.
With the unanimous designation by Yorkton Council at its regular meeting Monday landfill entrance fees at the City鈥檚 Sanitary Landfill are waived for residents and schools of the City of Yorkton hauling in their residential yard/school yard clean up debris by car, van, sport utility vehicle, half-ton truck or utility trailer.
Michael Buchholzer Director of Environmental Services, with the City said it has been customary to declare the week as a way to 鈥渢o encourage residents of the City of Yorkton to clean up their properties to help improve the image and appeal of our community.鈥�
鈥淭o encourage participation, City Council has previously waived the landfill tipping fees for residential refuse hauled in by city residents,鈥� he added.
鈥淭his campaign has been strictly for schools and City of Yorkton residents hauling in their own debris that has accumulated on their yard over the winter months.鈥�
Buchholzer said over the years the program has seen changes to formalize what resents can dispose of during the free access week.
鈥淧rogram adjustments were made in 2014 to restrict the qualifying loads as originating from City of Yorkton residents and allowable materials limited to yard debris such as broken tree branches, grass clippings or litter accumulated in yards during the winter months,鈥� he said.
As a result of these changes, the program was easier to control at the gate and a reduction in the qualifying loads occurred.
The changes have reduced program use. In 2015, 106 residents participated in the program, and 310 in 2014, as compared to the 1200 entries in 2013 before program changes were made, detailed a report circulated to Council.
For Yorkton residents to be eligible for the program they must meet the criteria as indicated below:
*Present to the scale attendant, a valid driver鈥檚 licence with a Yorkton civic address (no box numbers will be allowed under the program). School division loads would have identifiable vehicles and staff hauling any acceptable refuse.
*Cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, 陆 ton truck body styles, and utility trailers are eligible.
*Material being disposed of must meet the 鈥渨inter debris鈥� criteria.
鈥淲inter debris鈥� will be identified as broken tree limbs, grass mixed with garbage and debris collected in your yard during the winter months. This program will not cover tree disposal, tree pruning, construction or demolition debris, household garbage such as furniture, lumber, rugs, beds, or household items. The landfill operator will evaluate the load, the type of vehicle and address to determine if it is acceptable under the free program. Any loads not qualifying under the program will be accepted with the appropriate charges applied, detailed the report.
The program, which will run during regular landfill hours Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 7:00 pm and Saturday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm., has been reviewed and is recommended by the Environmental Committee.
