Curbside and Transfer Station Fact Sheet

Why is the municipality making changes?

The Rural Municipality of St. Clements strives to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials, which in turn helps to make the community environmentally friendly and sustainable and lengthens the life span of the landfill.

Why is the RM making changes to the Curbside Collection Program?

With the success of the curbside collection program for garbage and recycling in the southern portion of the municipality over the past 5 years through a Special Service Levy as per By-law 3-2018 which expires June 30, 2023.  In total almost 2,000 homes are included in the program, and it has been very successful.  A new By-law 3-2023 – Solid Waste and Recycling Collection By-law, will come into effect on July 1, 2023, with first reading on May 23, 2023, followed by second and third reading on June 13, 2023 in order to improve the administration and delivery of the service for existing and new users.

How will I be billed for the service?

In the previous bylaw, the charges automatically showed on your tax statement as a Special Service Levy and you will still have charges in 2023 with the amount being $57.96 which will be for the first 6 months of service in 2023 as that is what the pre-existing By-law 14-2018 outlined.  The new By-law 3-2023 will change the way you will be billed for the service.  In the month of September, the RM will be direct billing all existing customers for the remaining 6 months and every full year thereafter.  

How does the billing work and how much will it cost?

With the creation of By-law 3-2023, bills will be mailed out in September which will be due within 90 days.  So, you will be receiving a bill for the remaining 6 months of 2023 at a cost of $55.92.  For years 2024 and 2025 invoices will be mailed directly to you and the charge will be $125.84. 

Why are you making changes to Transfer Stations now?

With the proposed Solid Waste and Recycling Collection By-law 3-2023, it is a suitable time to review the solid waste services of the municipal waste transfer stations. The RM of St. Clements has operated four (4) Waste Transfer Stations since circa 1999 on locations of former small landfills, as well as a Class 1 Landfill. The existing waste transfer stations have not maintained pace with industry and employment standards when it comes to capital investment for electrical power, air conditioning, as well as washroom and sanitary break rooms for staff, mainly due to the multiyear discussions of potential consolidation and reduction of the number of transfer stations operated within RM boundaries.

The two (2) transfer stations located within the curbside collection zones in the southern portion of the RM, Dunning and Clarke Waste Transfer Stations, are being looked at for operational changes. A multi-step approach is being taken to consolidate and reduce the expenses required, while maintaining the level of service to ratepayers and provide a safe and healthy work environment for staff.

Why are you not receiving burnable materials at Dunning?

With approved development occurring on the commercial/industrial property in close proximity of the Dunning Waste Transfer Station, the RM of St. Clements has to address this with a change to the operation at this site.  The lands next to the Dunning Waste Transfer Station have development rights to construct certain buildings without requiring any additional approvals from the RM and this has created an issue to address this due to the time sensitive nature. The RM of St. Clements must abide by Provincial Waste Management Facilities Regulation for a setback of 400m that is required if burning of permitted waste is to be conducted on the site. Due to the development already approved, this site will need to cease burning combustible material by June 1, 2023. Discussions have taken place between RM of St Clements and nearby municipality who may be open to the concept of receiving some waste materials from our residents. Negotiations and details will be evaluated, reviewed, and will require agreements to be signed. This is anticipated to take some time to fully evaluate and then agree upon, and the following proposed phases provide time for that.  Alternatively, the Clarke Transfer Station, which is better suited to receive burnable materials will continue to receive these materials.  It was necessary to make this change now as the pits at Dunning were already filling up.  Burning is dependent on weather and wind speeds that favours burning. It is difficult to predict when we are able to do so and this site particularly allows us very few days a year to burn at present, due to concerns with the proximity of existing development. We conducted the last burn on May 9, 2023.

Will there be options available to residents to dispose of yard waste?

At present we are only restricting yard waste at the Dunning Transfer Station due to Provincial legislations for burning at Transfer Stations.  Yard waste will still be accepted at all other Transfer Stations and the Landfill.  Discussions are also occurring with nearby transfer stations in another municipality to allow our residents to bring their material that they would normally bring to our Transfer Station.

When will Dunning be closed this year?

No Dunning Transfer Station will not be closing this year.  The two (2) transfer stations located within the curbside collection zones in the southern portion of the RM, Dunning and Clarke Waste Transfer Stations, are being looked at for operational changes. A multi-step approach is being taken to consolidate and reduce the expenses required, while maintaining the level of service to ratepayers and provide a safe and healthy work environment for staff.  The proposal is looking at closing Dunning Transfer Station by April 1, 2024 and will be determined on potential alternative available to residents. Dunning Transfer Station will remain open and will be reduced to two days per week beginning July 1, 2023.

What are the changes occurring this year with the Transfer Stations?

The changes occurring over the summer this year are just changes to operations for number of days and times have been adjusted to deliver the service consistently across all Transfer Stations.

As the new Curbside Collection By-Law will be implemented July 1, 2023 it is proposed having the first change in operations to take effect also on this date for Dunning and Clarke Waste Transfer Stations to two and three days per week respectively. In addition to reducing the operating hours in the southern transfer stations, there are benefits to having the same business hours between the various sites, so a minor change of the hours is also proposed for Gull Lake and Grand Marais Waste Transfer Stations to achieve consistency through all transfer sites.

PHASE 1 – July 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023

 SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
Libau LandfillClosedClosed9:00 am –5:00 pm 9:00 am –5:00 pm 9:00 am –5:00 pm 9:00 am –5:00 pm 9:00 am –5:00 pm 
Dunning Burnables no longer accepted10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pmClosedClosedClosedClosedClosed
ClarkeClosedClosedClosedClosed10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Grand Marais10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am– 6:00 pmClosedClosed10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Gull Lake10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pmClosedClosed10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm10:00 am – 6:00 pm

RED – proposed change

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