ST. PAUL - With the Town of St. Paul's street sweeper out and about, cleaning up debris, residents are also eager to get going on spring clean up.
During the April 25 Town of St. Paul council meeting, CAO Steven Jeffery noted that the Town regularly receives phone calls asking when the street sweeper will be out, so they can hold off on their spring cleaning, specifically outside windows.
With a number of windy days noted in the past week, it's understandable that residents want the street sweeper to pass before they put in the effort to do their own spring cleaning.
Speaking to the topic of picking up garbage and cleaning up the streets, Mayor Maureen Miller noted that she saw local resident, Tanis Shapka, posted a picture picking up garbage, encouraging others to do the same.
She noted that personally, she was also going to make an effort to pick up some of the litter that is seen in the community, and take a picture to encourage others to do the same - perhaps even create a challenge.
"It's papers, it's masks - lots of masks - we're just seeing the garbage of this past year, it's everywhere," said Miller.
Removal of old garbage receptacles
The Town of St. Paul is asking residents to remove all old garbage receptacles that are located in the alleys on town property.
"These are the ones that are in the Town alley," affirmed Jeffery, adding people can continue to use receptacles that are on private property, and many are doing so for a variety reasons such as compost or firewood storage.
"We are asking them to be removed by May 31... One of the issues that Public Works is running into is that there is limited space, with both the old receptacles and the new waste carts, in the back alleys on collection days," said Jeffery. "This winter was exceptionally difficult with the amount of snowfall that we acquired and it limited the space even more in certain areas."
This summer, when maintenance is done in the alleys, it would be more efficient if old receptacles were removed. Residents can call the Public Works department at 780-645-3509 if assistance is required to dispose of old garbage bins or receptacles, free of charge.
When the Town of St. Paul introduced its roll-out bins in the spring of 2021, back alley garbage receptacles were no longer needed for garbage collection.
Advisory Board
The Town of St. Paul has approved two County members-at-large on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Following some changes to the Town's policy, the County of St. Paul put forward the names of Yvonne Weinmeier and Faithe Hunter to fill the vacancies on the board.
Both recommendations were approved and the individuals are now part of the Town's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
Community Grant Funding
Town council approved contributions to three upcoming events under its Community Grant Funding program.
The first request was for Lemonade Day, which is being organized in part by Community Futures. A donation of $100 was requested, and approved.
The second request came from St. Paul Minor Ball for a weekend of provincial softball tournaments to be held July 8-10. A request of $1,000 was approved, along with a facility request for the ball diamonds.
The third request came from St. Paul RCMP for the 40th Annual RCMP Road Race, scheduled for Tuesday, May 10. Organizers requested an area in the curling rink to be used on the day of the event, along with $1,000 for an operating grant. The requests were approved.
Speaking later in the meeting, Coun. Gary Ward noted that along with the July 8-10 weekend drawing in about 30 softball teams, there is the possibility of baseball taking place in St. Paul on the first weekend of July, and the potential for another provincial baseball tournament on the third weekend in July.
Miller noted that with soccer happening too, "we're humming this summer." She recommended that work be done to ensure businesses in St. Paul are aware of the upcoming events, so they could prepare for the influx of people.
"We want to make sure that we shine at our best light," said Miller.
Soccer fields and Reunion Station
Coun. Ron Boisvert asked what the condition of the soccer fields were following the dry conditions experienced last year.
Ward responded, saying on top of dressing and reseeding, those involved would like to work on two or three fields every season, which would be staggered. There will be some moving around of teams this year, to get some of the fields used that haven't been used for a while.
"It's just a matter of both the soccer group and soccer facilities working together to make sure things get looked after out there," said Ward.
The other issue being seen in the area is that posts have "taken another run" at Reunion Station. Jeffery said he would investigate the situation, which has been caused by water damage.
In 2020, the Town opted not to move ahead with paving around the Reunion Station building in order to address some drainage issues. Reunion Station is located at the St. Paul Soccer fields, and is used for a variety of public and private events throughout the year.
At the time, the soil around the building was very saturated and it was noted that it would take some time to fix the issues.
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