Saskatoon city councillors look into scrapping special handling fee for elm logs

City councillors in Saskatoon are asking administration to look into changing the cost for taking large elm logs to the landfill.

At Monday's environment committee meeting, councillors asked that the city examine how much it would cost to get rid of the special handling fee that the landfill adds for loads of elm wood that contains logs more than 10 inches in diameter or three feet long and replace it with a flat fee.

Due to problems with elm wood attracting beetles that carry Dutch elm disease, logs must be taken to the landfill to be disposed of. A large load of elm logs brought to the landfill currently costs a minimum of $275 per load, which includes a $130 per tonne special handling fee.

Environmentalists and arborists are worried that the extra costs associated with taking the elm logs to the landfill could lead people to not dispose of their wood properly. 

The last case of Dutch elm disease in the city was in July in Leif Erikson Park. After an investigation, more than 13 tonnes of stored wood were taken from 160 locations within two kilometres of the infected tree.

Councillor Hilary Gough asked administration to look into how much it would cost to get rid of the special handling fee and replace it with a $50 flat fee.

She also asked the city to look into spending more money on educating people about properly getting rid of elm logs.

"Mostly what I've encountered in talking with residents is that they are in a state of avoidance," said Gough.

"I've had lots of residents say to me, 'I'd love to deal with this tree, but I can't afford to,' and they don't really know what it's going to cost when they do maintain or remove a tree. That's an issue and it needs to be handled."

Councillor Darren Hill said it's very difficult to tell elm trees and other trees apart. He said he was refused entry at one of the city's compost depot when he cut down a small elm tree that had started growing in his back yard.

"For somebody that's aware of the disposal rules, but not aware necessarily of what an elm tree looks like, I think that that's probably part of why complications arise," he said.

According to a report from administration, the city has only made about $30,000 from the special handling fee and it is not charged often. In most cases, the fee was paid by tree removal companies, not citizens trimming one of their trees.

The report also said that it had found few cases of elm wood being dumped illegally since the special fee was brought in. Out of 15 cases of wood dumped in or near the city, 11 dump sites were in back alleys.

Administration will report back to councillors on the proposal during budget deliberations in November.