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Sentinel
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Northern
Years est. 1954
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 60 No. 28
Residential cardboard ban Cameron Orr Kitimat Council is moving ahead on putting a residential cardboard ban at the landfill. A similar ban is already in place for commercial cardboard and once the new bylaw comes in to effect homeowners will have to take their cardboard to either the KUTE depot or to the Kitimat Bottle Depot which is now a Multi Material BC (MMBC) contracted recycling depot. MMBC’s recycling program went into effect earlier this year. District of Kitimat staff told council that they recommended that they debate three readings of the bylaw at their July 7 public meeting, and then finalize the bylaw on July 21, due to the fact those meetings are televised and it would help to advertise the likely changes. Mario Feldhoff said he was happy to see the process begin. “This is good, I think this is an incremental change to our solid waste recycling that will incrementally ensure that we extend the life of our landfill,” he said. “I think the time has come for the residential cardboard ban. We started off with the business cardboard ban and a few businesses had some challenges with that but they’ve moved on, they’ve adapted and I think that those residents that are currently not recycling their cardboard they’ll find a way to do that in the future as well.” There are potential budget impacts for this change. Most directly with advertising costs for public education, staff say in their report. Also, KUTE, which receives grant funding from the District of Kitimat, has indicated if they become inudated with residential cardboard they might need another half-time employee. That addition would cost $14,000 annually. However because there are two depots in town that can take the material it is hard to forecast the burden to KUTE, staff note. Kitimat will likely advertise a new cardboard ban with a brochure that will be distributed before a ban is implemented. Staff expect the brochure to cost the District $2,000. No penalty for this proposed bylaw has been set at this time but may have been discussed at this past Monday’s meeting. Staff had indicated the cardboard ban could fall under the municipal ticketing ability with a potential $75 for violations of the cardboard ban. If council sticks with the staff’s recommendations the bylaw could go in to effect as early as September 1. Public education would include factors such as residents’ need to keep cardboard dry, otherwise it is no longer able to be recycled.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
1.30 INCLUDES TAX
$
Whatever the results would end up being at the dog show on Canada Day, Louiee here must certainly be the reigning “good dog” in his house. That’s owner Marc Jean giving Louiee a better view of the camera lens. The results of the dog show are on page 2.
Keeping pace on walkways Cameron Orr In a follow-up to a recent council meeting presentation on Kitimat’s walkways, council and the Kitimat Heritage Group donned walking shoes rather than business shoes for a quasi-committee of the whole meeting on June 30. Quasi in the sense that instead of sitting indoors they toured Kitimat’s sidewalks and walkways both down the hill and up in a review of the current state of the insfrastructure. Peter Ponter with the Kitimat Heritage Group said it was a productive tour. Among their concerns were portions of a walkway near Albatross Street that involves a flight of steps. “The concern was that anybody on a scooter...they could not realize that situation, so the idea was we suggest they put up some caution signs,” he said. Among the group’s overall priorities
“What we’re concerned about is trying to maintain the current system and also as new developments go in bring them up to a similar standard.” is to make sure walkways aren’t lost in community expansion. “What we’re concerned about is trying to maintain the current system and also as new developments go in bring them up to a similar standard,” he said. There’s no existing plans to decommission any walkways at the moment but other plans about maintanence couldn’t be answered during the tour as no representatives of District of Kitimat’s engineering department was on the tour. That said Ponter is happy with the
turnout of the tour, which included all but one councillor, which he sees as indicative of a focus on the group’s goals. “It was good to see so many councillors,” he said. “We seem to be getting more attention.” Mayor Joanne Monaghan, who was on part of the tour, said the walkways will continue to be an important part of Kitimat, especially as the community ages. “As we’re an aging community I think we have to take that [mobility] in to consideration,” she said. “When people can get around on their scooters and things they don’t feel so confined, and I think it’s wonderful and if we can keep that going it’s going to be good.” She said she appreciates the heritage committee for keeping the sidewalks a priority for Kitimat’s heritage and hopes they continue to do so.
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Relive Canada Day with some photos ... page 8