Expansion of landfill on city’s agenda

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This article was published 10/02/2023 (1201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon is preparing to expand the usable area at the Eastview Landfill.

On Wednesday, Brandon issued a tender on its website calling for proposals for development of the 17th waste disposal cell at the location.

Cells are areas designated for waste to be disposed in and then sealed once they have reached capacity.

In this year’s municipal budget, the city set aside $1.7 million for this project.

Since the Eastview Landfill began operating in 1977, it has opened 16 cells. Of those, 14 have been filled and have had a cap placed on them to seal them.

The two active cells, numbers 15 and 16, were projected in a 2021 study to be at or near capacity by 2026.

Ultimately, the landfill is planned to have 24 cells by the time it reaches capacity in 2052. A previous report issued in 2018 projected the landfill would reach capacity by 2044.

However, the 2021 study determined that factors like greater participation in the city’s green cart program and a decline in the amount of commercial refuse coming in would likely extend the landfill’s life span an additional eight years.

Brandon has approximately $1.1 million in a reserve earmarked for the eventual costs of decommissioning the Eastview Landfill and will save more for that purpose over time.

For this project, the city wants an engineering consultant to provide a conceptual design for the construction of cells 17 through 24, provide a detailed design of the 17th cell and assist during the construction process for it.

A snag mentioned in the tender is an old overnight dumping location at the part of the landfill near Victoria Avenue East. Unlike the cells, this area was never properly developed while it was used between 1977 and 1995.

In December, city staff performed several excavations to determine the exact location of the site and found it along the landfill’s northern limits.

“This discovery greatly impacts the remaining storage of the landfill site and has not been captured in the Landfill Master Plan or Closure and Post-Closure Plan,” the tender states. “The city requires recommendations on a path forward for this area.”

Another potential issue is that expanding the waste disposal area will eventually block off access to the internal access road residents and staff use at the landfill. The road will eventually need to be relocated to maintain access to the new cells as they are built.

After the bidding process ends at 5 p.m. on Feb. 23, the city states it will select the winning consultant within four weeks.

Design of the conceptual plan and the detailed design for cell 17 will be completed in time for summer. Construction on the new cell is scheduled to start Aug. 1 and be finished on or before Oct. 31.

Also this week, the city issued a tender for two rounds of tree planting. One round is scheduled for spring, while the other is scheduled for fall.

In spring, the city wants the winning contractor to plant 15 linden, 15 maple and 15 elm trees along with 15 trees of other varieties along boulevards.

The fall project will see 10 of each of those varieties be planted.

The tree-planting tender closes to bids at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark