ST. PAUL - Evergreen Regional Landfill is looking to hire an employee to work between a number of sites, including the Town of St. Paul Transfer Station, Smoky Lake Transfer Station, and the County of St. Paul Transfer stations, along with the landfill located near Lafond.
The employee would be used to fill in for holidays or when work loads are high at specific sites, heard Town of St. Paul council during its April 11 regular council meeting. The employee would be an Evergreen Landfill employee and the Town would only be billed for the amount it uses the employee.
After making a motion to approve the request, Coun. Brad Eamon asked how many hours administration thought it would require use of the casual worker.
Jeffery responded, saying while he didn't have an exact figure, the issue being experienced is that transfer stations workers are finding it hard to book time off. Relief workers from public works are required to help fill in when transfer station workers do take time off, which then takes staff away from other duties.
Sometimes, the on-call person for public works will find themselves at the transfer station, and in that situation they employee can't leave if a call comes in, such as a sewer back-up.
"It kind of seems like a small issue, but it sometimes can end up being quite a large issue," said Jeffery.
Coun. Nathan Taylor, who sits on the Evergreen Regional Waste Management Services Commission, said the new position was an "exploration" that Evergreen was looking at. He noted there would be no minimum requirement for the Town.
For a number of years the Evergreen Landfill has relied on the County of St. Paul to provide a back-up worker when needed, so the thought was to reverse that, and have Evergreen hire a worker, explained Taylor.
He noted that with the current labour market, it's tough to find someone to work part-time, so taking this approach and offering it as a full-time position could be a benefit.
"I don't think we would be the largest user of this program," said Jeffery. But, it could help alleviate some strain when there is a heavier workload.
"I think it's a fantastic idea," said Coun. Ron Boisvert.
The motion to use the casual worker from Evergreen Regional Landfill on an as-needed basis for the Town of St. Paul Transfer Station was carried.
