MACKENZIE — The board of directors for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George unanimously approved work at its Thursday, June 19 meeting that will help pave the way for the final decommissioning of the long-closed Valemount Regional Landfill.
A multipurpose room in the Mackenzie Recreation Centre was turned into a makeshift board room for the meeting.
To get the internet bandwidth needed to both livestream the meeting as well as connect directors and staff who couldn’t attend in person, regional district staff had a Starlink satellite terminal perched on top of a car in the rec centre’s parking lot to create a temporary wifi network.
The landfill was originally granted an operating permit in 1974 and closed permanently in 2013.
In 2016, a design and closure plan for the facility was created and was given final approval five years later by the Ministry of Environment and Parks.
One of the final pieces of work needed to be done to enact the final closure is to clear vegetative and organic overgrowth, which the regional district applied to the Ministry of Forests for a permit to complete in March 2023.
That permit was finally granted this March.
At the June 19 meeting, the board of directors approved granted a contract for grinding and grubbing work for two areas at the landfill site to Valemount-based Jackpine Construction Ltd. for a value of $36,700 before GST.
Regional district general manager of environmental services Laura Zapotichny said a second bid in the neighbourhood of $63,000 was also received.
When that work is complete, it will allow for composted materials to be delivered sometime in the summer or fall that will provide a final cover layer over the former landfill.
The board also approved opening a competitive bidding process for the acquisition of that compost at the June 19 meeting.
