By Marcia Love
Council discussed the continuing flood clean up situation in Maple Creek on Aug. 10.
The town was informed by Public Health that residents must dispose of any remaining flood-damaged materials in a timely manner.
“Public Health has become a little concerned with the amount of stuff people have accumulated in their yard and things like that,” explained Mark Caswell, town administrator. “There’s a few places where people haven’t even hauled the stuff out of their homes yet.”
Council agreed to extend its free-of-charge garbage pick up for flood-damaged materials until Aug. 31. Residents requiring items to be picked up and disposed of are asked to contact the town office.
“We don’t always know what’s been set out for pick up,” Caswell said. “Stuff that appears to be garbage maybe isn’t, so we’re really encouraging people to... let us know what it is that they need picked up.”
Residents are also reminded throughout the clean-up process to keep lawns cut.
“People still have to look after their yards – mowing grass and cutting weeds – because in high-moisture years it can create quite a rodent habitat,” Caswell said.
Mayor Barry Rudd is hopeful the town will be able to dispose of the 16 flood-damaged trailers from Willowbend Trailer Court at the old Maple Creek landfill site.
“There’s still an empty spot at the centre of that (landfill) – more than what we would need to bury those,” he said. “It eliminates a lot of problems and we won’t have to worry about the environment, because it’s already a garbage dump.”
The town will look into water table levels at the site this week to ensure it is not an issue.
If the location is found fit to dispose of the trailers, the town will appoint Joe Davis to complete the work.   
The wooden skirtings and decks on the trailers will be burned at the landfill, while the frames will be dismantled and hauled away. The remaining portions of the trailers will be crushed and buried.
The town was denied permission from the Ministry of Environment to burn flood-damaged furniture disposed of at the landfill.
“They came back with an absolute no and said bury it,” Rudd explained.
He said the best option is to shred as much furniture as possible to reduce the amount of landfill space being used.
The shredding costs will be covered by the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP).
However, Caswell noted there is an issue of the landfill site reaching capacity.
“The concern is PDAP won’t pay to commission a new landfill or decommission this one when it’s full, which this (furniture) brings us much closer to,” he said.
Council is looking into a resident’s request for a tax adjustment due to flooding.
The resident is demolishing her Aspen Street house as it received a great deal of flood damage. If the home is demolished, the minimum tax would apply to the property.
Caswell said the town has received word from many residents inquiring about the tax policy for houses affected by the flood.
“We’re aware of a number of situations and concerns taxpayers have,” he said.
Rudd explained the main issue is what would qualify for a tax reduction.
“We have people saying they had a finished basement and now they don’t have a finished basement,” Rudd noted. “How far do we go? It’s something we’ll have to talk about.”
Council will continue to discuss a possible guideline to be applied to taxpayers with flood-damaged homes.