Regional District of Fraser-Fort George staff are still ironing out the plan for charging a $6 small load fee at the Foothills dump.
As of Sept. 1, Foothill landfill users will be assessed the new fee for loads of household waste smaller than 100 kilograms. Electoral area A residents will be issued a swipe card for the equivalent of 50 visits per year to the facility.
"Residents in electoral areas pay an additional tax to the regional district that municipal residents are not subject to as a user fee for access to rural transfer stations and landfills for disposal of household," wrote operations leader Dana Ferguson in an update to the regional district's board of directors, who are meeting Thursday.
Staff estimate that approximately 1,400 Area A residents will get the card to avoid being assessed an additional fee. Those eligible will receive informational pamphlets and the cards in the mail before Sept. 1.
According to Ferguson, implementing the swipe-card system at the Foothills site is an additional $20,000 hit to the 2013 solid waste management budget that wasn't accounted for.
"The setup of a swipe card system at the Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill facility involves many tasks including software upgrades, upgrade to accounting records for financial services, cards and card readers, education to assist the public with inquiries as well as training staff," Ferguson wrote.
During today's meeting, the board of directors will also receive the 2012 annual report on the Foothills landfill.
Last year, a total of 111,297 tonnes was managed at the site, with more than 31,000 tonnes diverted through recycling, onsite use as cover material or compost.
More than 5,700 tonnes of yard and garden waste was received in 2012 and the regional district sold 1,880 cubic metres of composted material.
About 96 per cent of all waste landfilled at regional district sites was buried at the Foothills facility, which is almost 87 hectares in size.
The amount of garbage was shy of the projection for 2012, which "implies the lifespan for the site is potentially longer than originally projected," said the report. "Based on the information currently available, the lifespan of [the current fill area] will likely extend beyond 2027."
