Council Approves New Clean-Up Committee

With the snow now gone and the ground dry the Community Clean-up Committee took shape at the most recent Council meeting.

At their March 22nd meeting Council approved the creation of the committee which will include a wide and vast membership from within the community.

“What we wanted to bring back to Council, we know it is large, but a committee of champions that will be able to champion the program, coax their specific areas to engage with the City and helping us to keep the city clean,” city manager Jim Puffalt told Council.

The committee Administration is proposing would be comprised of 10 specified groups as well as membership of all of the city’s community associations.

“This Committee's objective is to champion and encourage groups and individuals to create an even higher level of ownership and pride in their neighbourhoods to promote a cleaner City. They will provide leadership for two (2) City-wide clean-up efforts in the spring and fall annually as well as throughout the year,” a report from Administration read.

“We know lots of people are doing work already and we are trying to find ways the Committee can help,” Puffalt said.

The school divisions - Prairie South School Division and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division - have already appointed their two representatives to the Committee and Administration plans to reach out to the various community associations in the city.

“It can’t just be the City and it can’t just be the neighbourhoods doing the work, we need to say we will help them out as much as possible,” he said.

Puffalt said he remembered when he first arrived in Moose Jaw a group wanted to clean up a public park, which would help out the City, but at the same time the group would have to pay the landfill fees.

“To me that sounds a little bit backwards. We are asking people to give us a hand with things then we should find ways to support them. Not make it more difficult. So that is what this committee tries to accomplish,” he said.

Funding for the program would come from Solid Waste Utility budget with the expenses for such things as gloves, bags and safety vests for volunteers described as minimal.

The Committee falls in “nicely” to a 2019 policy designed to encourage and support those who take a part in helping to keep the City clean.

Puffalt said Administration had consulted with Mayor Fraser Tolmie about the Mayor’s “vision” for keeping the city clean.

Mayor Tolmie related a story about how he and his daughter had been out driving along Thatcher Drive and seeing the large amount of litter along it and how his daughter had questioned him as the Mayor why could he not use his powers to have it cleaned up.

The Mayor admitted he lied to his daughter as to how all of the litter was along Thatcher Drive.

“I tried to explain to my daughter that is the impact of the wind and she was able to see through that,” he said, adding his daughter said “the wind does move litter around but it is people why there is litter and garbage not cleaned up and she goes you’re the Mayor fix that.”

The Mayor said he was aware of community groups already involved in collecting litter - including one started by Councillor Crystal Froese before she was ever elected to Council - but the new Committee was actually just about creating access.

“This is showing that the City and Council cares about the state of our community. And it is not just the litter it is things we are addressing with signage and there are different areas in the community we may not see but there are others who do. To be able to create partnerships is very successful..this is just another opportunity for us to lead and support,” he said.

Despite being a big committee the Mayor said he saw “focus and there is a job to do to raise awareness to preventing litter.”

“Obviously I agree with cleaning up our city. I have been part of a couple of organizations that have been part of cleaning up twice a year and of course I personally pick up garbage along the way,” Councillor Crystal Froese said, adding she was hoping for more to come out of the Committee.

“I am hoping what will come out of this is a strategy. A strategy that brings forth a stronger statement of what this actually means. Anybody who has come out to any of the groups that I have helped organize are doer”s. They are more interested in picking up garbage than going to meetings,” Councillor Froese said.

“it is the issue as how the litter got there in the first place and how do we change that in our community,” she said.

She spoke about a proper communication’s strategy and giving the community “reminders” about the pick-up and the clean-up days and really getting the word out there to the community.

“If you don’t utilize that it is hard to raise the level of simple pride on a continual basis without addressing the fundamental issue we have with litter,” she said, adding “there is more to this than just bringing people together to pick up litter.”

The motion to create a new Community Clean-Up Committee was passed unanimously.