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A Saskatoon tree company is feeling cut down by the city about a new policy on elm waste going to the landfill.
Laelia Shiell, general manager of Porcupine Tree Care, said fees the city is charging for disposing of elm trees sends the wrong message to the community.
“Disposing of elms is already a problem,” she said.
“Last year we saw it in Montgomery when there was a Dutch elm disease outbreak. The city went through Montgomery and surrounding neighbourhoods looking for elm debris in people’s yards. The amount they found there was astronomical. I can only imagine this will increase the elm illegally stored in Saskatoon.”
At the root of Shiell’s concern is a $275 special handling fee.
Sheill said her company has never had to pay the fee before and it’s affecting how the company does business.
“We’ve definitely had to take extra time into cutting large pieces of wood into small pieces,” she said. “It has also increased our fees that we have to charge clients for elm removal.”
In a statement, the city said other landfills in the region have similar requirements for the disposal of elm waste.
The special handling fee is charged on oversized logs at a minimum of $275 per load or at $130 per tonne, whichever is greater, plus a $15 entrance fee.
“These fees have not increased, but enforcement in charging these special handling fees has increased this year following a review of disposal practices and safety-related concerns with handling tree waste of this size,” the city said.
“The City Landfill has always reserved the right to charge a special handling fee for landfilling materials that are cumbersome and require additional resources to landfill appropriately or have special regulations regarding their disposal. The Landfill considers any deciduous tree waste greater than three feet in length and with a diameter of more than 10 inches to require special handling and charges accordingly.”
Sheill would like to see incentives instead of fees for disposing of elm tree waste.
“It feels like they are asking us to do the right thing, but yet they are charging us,” she said. “I would just like to see the city work with us on this.”
The city recorded its second-ever case of Dutch elm disease last September.
