With the change of the calendar from March to April came a change in the schedule for refuse collection in the City of Weyburn. As they do every spring and winter, the collection schedule has moved from bi-weekly to weekly.  

The change is made to bi-weekly in the winter in part due to logistics, explained Jennifer Wilkinson. She is the Director of Engineering with the City of Weyburn.  

“In the winter, it is a little harder for the garbage truck to get around due to all the snow, so we do encourage people all year to reduce waste, but especially in the winter because you do only have bi-weekly garbage pickup,” Wilkinson clarified.  

While the change in the garbage collection frequency is one of the signs of spring in Weyburn, another is the start of the street sweeping program within the city.  

“We have started our street sweeping program, and they are currently working on what we could consider first priority,” said Wilkinson, noting it is similar to snow removal in how the routes are handled. These routes include Government Road, 1st Avenue North, and others. Then, the downtown core will be next, followed by the secondary routes.  

This year, they have started using a day and a night shift to speed the process up, as in some areas it can be easier in the evening and overnight hours, as there are fewer vehicles on the road. As the crews get set to enter into the residential areas, the city will use the Voyent Alert system to get the word out to people when they are entering their neighbourhood.