Grand Forks planning yard waste site expansion, on city’s south side

Jan. 15—GRAND FORKS — The city is in the process of planning an additional yard waste collection site on the south side of Grand Forks.

The purchase of the land was approved by the City Council

at its meeting last week.

The proposed site is located near the intersection of South Washington Street and 57th Avenue South. The plan would be for developing the yard waste site when the 47th Avenue interchange is built four to five years

from now, according to the latest estimates.

“We’ll design it and have it ready for whenever (the interchange) happens,” Grand Forks Public Works Director Sharon Lipsh said. “(The interchange) would help us have a quicker turnaround getting to and from the landfill. Otherwise, it’s going to add an extreme amount of time having to go through the city.”

The logistics of getting the yard waste collection cleaned out is part of the reason the city is not building it sooner. The landfill is located on the far northwest corner of the city, while this site is on the southeast corner. However, once the site is built, Lipsh said it likely will allow the city to eliminate sites at Lewis and Clark Elementary School and Schroeder Middle School, easing safety concerns.

“Then a decision at that point needs to be made about the 47th Avenue (location). There’s only two containers there — it’s very congested and it’s not easy to get in and out of,” Lipsh said.

The 47th Avenue South location is the highest volume yard waste site in the city, according to public works. The school sites rank near the bottom, but they also follow a different calendar as they are closed when school is in session. The decisions to keep or eliminate sites are with the City Council.

When built, the new site on 57th Avenue South will be one of the biggest in the city, having a planned seven containers for yard waste. That would be the same size at the location at Williamson Field, the second busiest, and one container bigger than the location at the public works facility.

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.yahoo.com/news/grand-forks-planning-yard-waste-153400560.html