Town moving to biweekly garbage pickup, hauling garbage to Whitewood

June 16, 2025, 11:31 am
Kara Kinna

With Moosomin’s landfill near capacity, the town will be moving to bi-weekly garbage pickup as of July 1, and will have Loraas Disposal haul all residential garbage, as well as garbage from any Loraas business bins around town, to the Whitewood landfill.

The decision was made at last Wednesday’s council meeting. Brian Waynert and Heidi McCaskill with Loraas Disposal attended the meeting to present some pricing to the town. Currently Loraas picks up the town’s garbage and hauls it to the Moosomin landfill. At the meeting on Wednesday, Loraas presented pricing for picking up the garbage and hauling it to Whitewood landfill, as well as pricing for hauling the garbage from a transfer station. The town is hoping to have a transfer station in place by the end of 2025, and is in the process of decommissioning the Moosomin landfill which is at the end of its life.

The town currently pays $9,599.70 for weekly pickup hauled to Moosomin. Weekly pickup hauled to Whitewood would cost the town $16,242.50 a month, but Loraas pointed out that Moosomin is one of the only communities that has weekly, as opposed to bi-weekly pickup, and wondered if the town would consider bi-weekly pickup to keep costs down.

After the delegation council discussed what to do. Town Foreman Mike Stein said the landfill was so close to capacity that he worried if a decision wasn’t made quickly, the town would not be able to accept any more garbage within a few month’s time.

Council passed a motion to start with bi-weekly garbage pickup hauled to Whitewood as of July 1, and asked Loraas for a 10-year contract. Some of the councillors were concerned about bi-weekly pickup not being frequent enough, but council decided they would give it a try to keep costs in line with what the town is currently paying.

It was also noted that the town will not be paying as much now for landfill maintenance, equipment and materials with the majority of garbage now being hauled to Whitewood.

The landfill can still accept garbage on a user pay basis like it is now. The motion at council was only for garbage being picked up by Loraas to be hauled to Whitewood, and no longer to the Moosomin landfill, buying the town some time before converting to a transfer station.

Town foreman Mike Stein said he was happy with the decision, as he has been struggling to find ways to manage the waste at the landfill with it being so near capacity.

Town needs 12 more units of multi-unit other to reach goal under housing accelerator fund
EDO Casey McCormac told council that the town needs 12 more units of multi-unit other in order to reach its goal under the housing accelorator fun.

“Currently we are sitting at 24 multi unit other, 9 multi unit missing middle, and 3 other, so that means we have hit our goals for multi-unit missing middle and the three other. But we need 12 more units of multi-unit other to reach our goal,” she said.

She said if they don’t hit their targets, it could result in a partial fourth payment to the town from the fund, however to meet that goal, they need simply a building project to have a permit in by 2027, and most of council was confident the town could reach that goal.

Multi-unit other properties must have a shared space such as a lobby or a stairwell.

McCormac said overall the program co-ordinators have been impressed with Moosomin and its abilities to get housing up and reach its goals so quickly under the program.

Downtown angle parking discussed
There was a discussion about angle parking on Broadway Avenue at the meeting Wednesday.

Council received a letter from the Community Builders Alliance encouraging the town to consider removing the center boulevard on Broadway Avenue from Carlton to Birtle (three blocks) and convert from paralell to angle parking at the curb and use the center of Broadway Avenue for traffic flow.

The CBA pointed out that business expansion and investment in the downtown core has led to increased traffic, as well as more jobs and new municipal tax revenues for the town. They suggested holding a whiteboard session with the town to share ideas on how to create more parking.

Council discussed the proposal, with Mayor Murray Gray saying the first step needed to be looking at how many parking spots would actually be created after you make concession for the turning lanes in the boulevard.

Councillor Andie Hodgson said she worried about it impacting the town’s beautification, and also noted that some businesses pay for parking downtown. Councillor Garry Towler said he worried about services under the boulevard. Councillor Devin Nosterud said he thinks it’s something the town should seriously consider.

Gray said it would be best to bring it back and discuss it once they know the number of potential spots so they can compare the benefits and drawbacks to what is there now.

EDO interested in long-term economic development plan
EDO Casey McCormac told council she is interested in moving forward on working with a consultant to create a regional economic development proposal. This long-term plan would be much like the town’s strategic plan, helping the town decide what projects to focus on, measure its goals, and do long-term planning, setting goals over a 10-year period on the economic development front.

“The most valuable part of that is the mentorship and the connections from that,” said McCormac.

Council agreed it would be a worthwhile pursuit.

Career fair being planned
EDO Casey McCormac told council that Moosomin and Rocnaville are planning to hold a career fair in October. She said they would hold it in Rocanville this year, and then make it an annual event, switching it back and forth between Moosomin and Rocanville each year, inviting businesses, talking to all of the high schools, and inviting the general public. “There are quite a few businesses that are excited bout it. I think it’s something that needs to happen. People are looking for people to work,” she said.

Work on tourist rest stop continues
EDO Casey McCormac said work is continuing on creating a tourist stop near the middle entrance to Moosomin off the Trans-Canada Highway. She says they have been looking at putting a gazebo there and also are thinking about putting up a big sign talking about Moosomin being the home of hockey.

BBQ proceeds going to Age Friendly
Council passed a motion to donate any proceeds made by the town barbecue on rodeo weekend to Age Friendly Moosomin.

Commemorative crosswalk approved
Council gave approval for the Moosomin Legion to put in a commemorative crosswalk with painted maple leaves at the four-way stop on Main Street and Broadway Avenue. The crosswalk recognized those who served and sacrificed for the country.