The vertical landfill expansion is still in the final stage of design approval from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.

Director of Public Works for the City of Melville, Andrew Fahlman says tweaks had to be made to the Ministry’s satisfaction.

“Concerns were raised in regards to the pipes settling. What happens if that garbage underneath settles over time, and now you have a big sag in a pipe that’s supposed to be gravity-fed. So we had to go back to the drawing board, relook at that, and address those concerns in regard to trenching in the pipes.” Fahlman explained.

Fahlman says he is confident the changes will lead to approval.

Both the City and the Environment Ministry have gone back and forth with the design process for a while now, though a better situation than 5 years ago, when the province originally wanted to shut the landfill down.

Fahlman says he’d rather take due diligence than to complete the project fast.

“By taking the time to work with the Ministry of Environment, work with our engineers, that’s exactly what we’re doing, we’re making sure that when we do execute this project, it’s done to the highest quality standards that we do have.”

Tendering for the project were scrapped earlier this year because of the higher-than-anticipated bid costs and more clarification required in the bid package.

If the latest changes to the plan are approved, the process of Request for Proposals is expected for the spring of 2022, construction in the summer of 2022 and completion in the fall of 2022.

The vertical landfill expansion update can be read here.