City of Powell River directors on the Powell River Regional District board see a significant waste management surplus as an opportunity to develop a remediation plan for the former waste transfer site.
Director Chris McNaughton made the suggestion at a regional district committee-of-the-whole meeting devoted to the 2011-2015 financial plan on February 3.
The regional district has a surplus of $282,211 from the 2010 waste management budget. “We don’t really know why, but we had less waste exported in 2010 than we’ve had in six years,” said Frances Ladret, regional district administrator.
The regional district exported 4,703 tonnes of waste in 2010, which was 325 tonnes less than projected in the budget. The reduction resulted in lower than budgeted handling, transportation and disposal costs.
The high Canadian dollar further reduced disposal costs. “Instead of costing us $183 a tonne, as it did in 2009, it was $150,” Ladret said. Other factors added to the surplus, including an education program that was not implemented and unspent contingency.
As a result, the preliminary 2011 budget does not contain a requisition for waste management. However, Ladret pointed out a zero requisition for 2011 is not realistic and will result in a large increase to the 2012 requisition for regional services. She suggested ways to avoid the inconsistency by increasing expenditures in other areas, such as increasing the cemetery reserve to offset the cost of buying equipment or increasing the cemetery capital expenditure to expedite the development plan. The regional parks requisition could be increased to accommodate more parks and greenspace plan implementation or to increase the reserve to offset costs for future implementation or other regional park costs. Another option is to increase general administration contribution to reserves to provide funds for further office space planning.
McNaughton pointed out the solid waste management plan includes a requirement for closure and possibly remediation of the waste transfer site as well as two former landfills. “I think it’s an issue that’s outstanding and long overdue in terms of being addressed,” he said.
Director Debbie Dee, also a city director, supported McNaughton’s suggestion, and said directors needed to look at the issue with new eyes and let historical disagreements stay in the past. “Let’s take a look at maybe considering a plan, coming to an agreement that something needs to be done there,” she said.
Patrick Brabazon, Electoral Area A director, said he understood the sentiment, but there are basic principles involved that “simply can not be swept under the carpet. The suggestion that we have to come up with a plan and forget everything that’s gone before would be tantamount to sweeping those principles under the carpet.”
Brabazon offered one example. “If your neighbour owns an old garage station, are you in any way liable to remediate that property when he shuts it down?” he said. “That’s the sort of principle we’re talking about.”
Colin Palmer, regional board chair and Electoral Area C director, said he had no objection to “getting down to the nuts and bolts of this,” but he was not prepared to discuss remediation of the landfill sites, both of which were in use before the regional district was established. “I certainly think the whole incinerator site needs to be thrashed out and dealt with,” he said. “There’s going to be arguments and there’s going to be opinions, but if we can get facts on the table and move on from there, at least we can get it out of the way.”
In the end, directors agreed to discuss the issue at a future committee-of-the-whole meeting.
