Neepawa Town Council called a special meeting on what is usually one of its off weeks for the express purpose of holding a public hearing on a new by-law that establishes criteria and rates for garbage collection. The by-law would replace a similar by-law that was in effect for five years and expired on December 31, 2024.

Rrain Prior – Local Journalism Initiative

The new bylaw would be in effect for three years, a shorter period of time in order to able to be more responsive to some upcoming changes to how recycling is handled by the province of Manitoba.

The purpose of the by-laws - both the original and the replacement - is to distribute the costs of the services more equitably. The special service plan ensures that low-use residents aren’t paying more to subsidize higher-use residents, making it more of a user-pay model, and as well it allows the town to set a rate for the schools, which wouldn’t pay anything if the cost of the service was being recovered entirely through the mill rate.

The new by-law will recover about 69% of the cost through the special service plan, with just 6% recovered through the general mill rate and the remaining 25% covered by grants received for recycling. Following this public hearing, the town will hold first reading of the by-law and then it will go to the Province for approval.

Ultimately, as there is clearly a cost attached to the volume of waste being sent to the landfill, the by-law is intended to get people to think about how much waste they’re putting out that could be directed elsewhere.

"The goal would be to get everybody to reduce their garbage and increase their recycling to reduce that $677,000 bill,” said Collen Synchyshyn, CAO for the Town of Neepawa. “That's the goal."