Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
The annual spring cleanup – normally held after the May long weekend – has been postponed by the Town of Hay River mainly because of concerns about Covid-19.
Judy Goucher, the town's senior administrative officer (SAO), told the April 27 online meeting of council that the cleanup has not been cancelled.
"At this point, we're talking about a postponement," she said.
Mike Auge, the director of public works and planning, explained a number of factors went into the postponement, including staffing levels and costs.
"I think another factor in it is the chief public health officer requesting that non-essential businesses and activities not take place, and this certainly falls into the category of a non-essential activity," said Auge. "We will continue to collect garbage, which is essential."
Goucher noted that the spring cleanup typically results in waste diversion from the landfill.
"People who drive around and look at what other people have at the end of their driveway, and have a use for it, can repurpose it, and there's a significant amount of waste that's left out of our landfill as a result of that activity," she said.
Goucher pointed out that the town's playgrounds are closed because of concerns of the NWT's chief public health officer about the Covid-19 virus and how long it might survive on various types of surfaces, and likewise having the spring cleanup after the May long weekend would not be ideal for health reasons.
"Hopefully by the time the chief public health officer starts to relax her orders we'll be in a position where we have not only the human resources to do it but also people will have had that extra time to look around their properties and get things ready," said the SAO.
Goucher added that people can still take items to the landfill on their own.
She offered further explanation of the postponement in April 30 comments to The Hub.
"I think it's an accumulation of factors," she said. "First and foremost, Covid. It's not that we didn't budget for this this year. But under a Covid scenario we may or may not have the levels of human resources that we had in previous years. Usually we supplement our permanent staff with summer students, and that may not take place this year."
Goucher said the town is advising residents to do a cleanup, but not put items out by the curb.
"Store them somewhere on your property," she said. "And we're going to do our best to set a date as soon as we can to proceed with the cleanup."
Goucher said the cleanup will likely take place before the end of the summer.