The City of Castlegar wants to see the detritus at the former site of the Woodland Park School removed.

Phil Markin, director of development services for the City of Castlegar said the owners of the property will be notified by registered mail that they must comply with the city's directive.

"We will ask them to remove the rubble and then remove the concrete foundation or bury it or fill it in with backfill matter," said Markin.

Markin added that future plans for the site by the owner includes duplexes for seniors and ultimately the site will need to be cleaned up one way or the other.

"We want the rubble out of there. The best case scenario is that the rubble and the concrete is removed, but, they could bury the concrete for now. But if they buried it, then it would have to be removed when they start developing the site," explained Markin.

Markin added that he and councillor Deb McIntosh attended a meeting Sept. 24 held by concerned neighbours who expressed their concern and dismay that refuse was being dumped into the foundation and covered with tarp.

"We heard the message loud and clear from the neighbourhood," said Markin.

In late September, the News spoke with John Vicars, a co-owner of a numbered company which owns the property and the Twin River development in south Castlegar.

At that time Vicars said a down-turned economy means that all the refuse was being dumped into the foundation and covered with tarp until his company's cash flow increased.

Citing financial issues, Vicars said it wasn't economically feasible for the company to do otherwise.

"We can't afford to ship it out. The tipping fees in Castlegar are horrendous and we have heavily invested in Castlegar and the money is not coming back to us," explained Vicar.

"We're doing the very best we can."

Whatever the case might be, Markin said the company will have 30 days to comply, or 14 days to request that the city reconsider.

Should the city decline to reconsider, Markin said the 30 day timer starts ticking again.

"It's a lengthy process and we have to make sure we follow the points of the law," explained Markin.

If the company doesn't follow the directive within the legal timeframe, then the city has the option to do the work itself and recover the cost from the company through taxes.