Bonners Ferry City Council will ask  Boundary County Commissioners to  provide its drop off recycling program four days a month instead of one.

City council wants it to be weekly on a trial basis to see how many people will use the facility.

Boundary County Landfill needs to reduce the amount of garbage dumped there to keep the landfill in operation for another 5 to 10 more years.

City officials  would like to see if people will use the Far North site before to invest in its own unmanned sites in and around the city.

“I believe people will do the right thing and recycle if we make it convenient,” said councilman Chris Clark.

“Trying this on a trial basis would be beneficial as long as it does hurt us on expense,” said Mayor David Anderson.  “If the county can bring in the unit weekly for two to three months it can be tracked to see if it would be worth setting up additional unmanned sites.”

The city plans to educate residents by including  flyers in the billing statements explaining the need to recycle.

Ideally the council agrees that curbside pick-up of recyclables would be best, but the expense will be an issue. 

City council also would like to inform residents about the benefits of compositing yard waste ratehr than leaving it for garbage pick-up. Yard waste peaks in the spring and fall; this adds to the daily tonnage brought into the landfill.