Traffic, trash Collection, spending on Agenda
City council is expected to decide today whether to make major changes to trash collection in Saskatoon in an effort to divert more material from the landfill.
The most transformative decision council is slated to make at its regular 1 p.m. meeting pertains to how waste is collected.
Council will decide whether to move forward with a new approach that would remove the cost of curbside pickup from property taxes and implement a fee based on the volume of trash residents throw out, using three sizes of carts. The price would rise with the cart size.
Council will also decide on a citywide curbside collection program for food and yard waste, similar to the programs for garbage and recycling.
The shift to user fees for garbage, intended to reduce the amount of trash people throw out, has proved controversial. The trash transformation seems likely to be passed by council, though not without opposition.
The City of Saskatoon has adopted an ambitious target to divert 70 per cent of material from the landfill by 2023. Saskatoon’s waste diversion rate in 2017 was 22.8 per cent.
According to a city report, Saskatoon is one of only two cities in Canada with more than 150,000 residents that lack a mandatory curbside collection program for yard waste.
GLASGOW NO-GO?
At what could be a very long public hearing meeting at 6 p.m., council will consider permanently closing Glasgow Street in the Avalon neighbourhood to left turns from Clarence Avenue.
Most residents of the neighbourhood appear to oppose the measure, but a report from the city administration backs the move.
The city set up a temporary barricade in September to test the change. A city report concluded it substantially reduced the number of vehicles per day using Glasgow, but failed to reduce the average speed of vehicles. On one stretch, average speeds have increased.
Vehicles per day dropped to 1,900 in May from 3,700 prior to the closure in September on one stretch of Glasgow. Average speeds along that stretch remained steady at 54 kilometres per hour.
On another stretch, average vehicle speeds increased to 55 km/ h in May from 52 km/h in September.
While traffic on Glasgow has dropped, the number of vehicles using Mcaskill Crescent each day has jumped to 620 from 270. Daily vehicle counts on Wilson Crescent have ballooned to 3,900 from 2,550.
A city report acknowledged the solution is “not perfect,” but the benefits for Glasgow outweigh the “detriments” to other streets. No cost is attached to the project.
Six speakers, including representatives of the Avalon Community Association, showed up to speak on the closure at this month’s transportation committee meeting.
SPENDING SCRUTINY
Also at council’s 6 p.m. public hearing, council will consider applying greater scrutiny to council members’ use of their communications allowance.
A report from the municipal review commission recommends several measures to ensure the $10,000-a-year allowance for each councillor and the $128,000 budget for the mayor are spent properly.
The commission, an independent body appointed by council, proposes appointing an integrity commissioner to review potential misuse of the money, and a thirdparty review of the spending.
A commission report notes an unnamed councillor claimed expenses for website maintenance in 2017, even though it appears the website has not been updated since the 2016 election.
It’s also proposed that event sponsorships be identified as an unacceptable expense for council members.
A separate commission report headed to council today recommends stopping councillors from using tax dollars to promote themselves on billboards and bus stop ads. Councillors spent $15,264.66 on signage in 2017, nearly as much as they spent on flyers and newsletters, $16,377.97.
It appears only four councillors engaged in this practice in 2017: Troy Davies, Bev Dubois, Darren Hill and Mairin Loewen.
AXING FOR HELP
Coun. Randy Donauer wants to help residents who want to remove dead or diseased city-owned trees from their properties.
Donauer is expected to seek support today for a proposal to study the possibility of a program to help property owners with this task.
The request comes as the City of Saskatoon could be facing the removal of as many as 4,000 black ash trees over the next two years.
The 7,000 city-owned black ash trees are under attack by the cottony ash psyllid, which is devastating the black ash population.
The city’s parks division has asked for an increase in its annual budget to build up a reserve fund to combat the deadly effect of insect pests on trees.