October 19, 2011
Garbage takes centre
stage
by Kay McQuade
A proposed waste management bylaw caused a bit of a stink at Head,
Clara, Maria townships council recently, where members of the public
and business community gathered to make their feelings known.
The bylaw has been coming since 2006 when council first started to
consider developing a recycling program.
The bylaw was created by township staff based on reports organized by
Waste Diversion Ontario at the direction of council and shaped over the
past two years.
The purpose of the bylaw, as presented in Clerk Melinda Reith’s report
to council, is “to reduce the amount of material going to landfill,
extend the life of landfill sites, ensure that prohibited materials
such as recyclables and household hazardous waste does not enter our
landfill and ensure that users of the system are the ones paying for
the associated costs.”
The report outlines the options chosen by council to meet these goals.
- Make recycling mandatory. (Recycling in HCM is not mandated by the
province due to its size.)
- Require that all material is put in clear bags. A “privacy bag” is
allowed to be included inside each larger bag.
- Implement tipping fees for all users.
- Allow two free bags of garbage per property per week.
- Implement a fee of $1 per bag over the fee limit for 2012 and $2 per
bag in 2013 once people have had time to get used to the program.
- Provide for amnesty days following major holidays to allow for those
instances where there would normally be an increase in waste.
- Allow the disposal site attendant to refuse bags which contain
prohibited materials.
- Make littering or dumping of material outside of designated areas an
offence.
- Allow a period of five months for full integration of the program
using education reminders for non-compliance for the first part of the
program until full enforcement comes into effect by April of 2012.
The report states that a “pay for use” program including tipping fees
for all residents will ensure that users of the landfill are those
responsible for costs.
Taxes allocated for that purpose would then decrease.
Reith’s report also included concerns received from commercial
operators and individual ratepayers, some of which were outlined in
Morning Mist Resort owner Todd Dowser’s letter to the editor in the
September 28 North Renfrew Times, “HCM: closed for business.”
Commercial operators, particularly campsite and resort owners, feel
that their establishments are being unfairly targeted and the new
regulations will place an unmanageable financial burden on their
businesses.
Reith’s report countered these arguments, saying that campers should be
required to separate waste at the campsite as they do at home and that
one campground in particular has extremely low recycling volume as
compared to others.
The report noted that campgrounds are taxed at the residential rate as
mandated under provincial regulations so commercial operators do not
pay more in taxes.
The report goes on to say that from the resident perspective, the
increased cost of a service (in this case waste management) should be
passed on to the user of the system, ie. the camper.
It was reported that some private residents do not see the benefit that
commercial operations bring to the township as outlined in Dowser’s
letter.
Information from other local municipalities regarding their waste
management practices was presented in the report as well as comments
from the owners of Sid Turcotte Park, a campsite located in Mattawa.
Following the report’s presentation, Reith opened the floor to members
of the public to hear their recommendations.
Dowser took the floor and addressed the meeting.
He felt there were two separate issues within the bylaw; the additional
fees being charged and the use of clear plastic bags.
He agreed wholeheartedly with council’s objective to achieve diversion
of materials from the landfill and said that Morning Mist has an active
and successful recycling program.
He explained that “the additional fee of $1 per bag will effectively
increase by 50% the municipal component of our taxes.”
He feels that such a huge increase is just not fair.
Dowser acknowledged that his business should definitely pay something
to deal with garbage, but the question is just how much.
As to the issue of using clear plastic bags, Dowser wondered how
campers could be forced to comply.
Green garbage bags are most often used and he asked the meeting, “What
do I do if a camper leaves a green garbage bag beside the garbage can?”
“Am I then expected to open the green bag and sort it into a clear
plastic one?
“This is just not feasible with the amount of garbage we go through.”
Dowser also challenged some of the statements in the report regarding
waste management practices in other municipalities.
He agreed that Sid Turcotte Park does use clear plastic bags but said
there are no tipping fees charged.
The township of Madawaska Valley implemented a clear bag system and a
fee of $1 per bag, but campgrounds are excluded.
Reith said, “I am not the bad guy here. I was asked to bring this
information to council.”
“Council makes decisions on information you provide,” Dowser countered.
“I haven’t been able to convince you of the challenges. You create part
of the policy.”
Councillor Dave Foote said “we need to have another look at this.”
“Melinda does the research but council carries the can on this and we
are missing something right now.”
Councillor Ed Aiston said Reith makes recommendations “but council owns
the bylaw.”
HCM resident Debbie Grills said “I support the bylaw in principle, but
would like to have more emphasis on waste diversion and increase the
timeline and see increased education.”
She asked council to “postpone the final decision and create a
committee of stakeholders to consider diversion.”
She also expressed concern about the tone of the community in recent
months and would like to “smooth over the bad feelings that I am
feeling.”
Foote agreed and asked “do any private residents have an objection to
setting up a committee to reconsider the bylaw and giving campgrounds
consideration?”
Gayle Watters, HCM resident, who wrote a letter in support of the
bylaw, said, “I wasn’t pointing a finger at anyone. I am just upset
because so few people recycle in the community.”
“There is a lot of garbage that could be diverted.”
She even offered to help Dowser sort recycling.
There was no objection to the formation of a committee.
Council decided to defer consideration of the bylaw and form a
committee to advise council on waste management comprised of two
council members (Ed Aiston, Robert Reid), one campground representative
(Todd Dowser) and one private citizen (Debbie Grill) to report back to
council with recommendations at the second meeting in November.
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