qathet Regional District (qRD) directors were provided a presentation outlining the new resource-recovery centre, currently under development at the old City of Powell River incinerator site near Willingdon Beach.
At the January 25 regional board meeting, directors reviewed a brief history of the Marine Avenue site written by staff. Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said the report compiles years of history and a number of reports into one readable document, going through the whole closure plan.
City director Cindy Elliott asked for some comments around the concept of the closure of the site without building the waste transfer site, versus the budget the regional district has for closing the site and having the waste transfer site. She said she understands the costs are very similar and the obligation to close that site would have been there regardless.
“I wanted some comments for the public to understand how that can be,” said Elliott.
Fellow city director George Doubt said that looking at the whole project, the cost of simply closing and remediating the property would have cost as much as the resource-recovery centre project.
“We’re getting a reclaimed piece of land, a recycling facility and something that is hopefully going to make it easier to get to zero waste, and it is going to come in at a very reasonable amount – no more than simply the cost of reclaiming the property,” added Doubt. “From all of the reports I’ve read, another key to the cost is that we were able to reuse a lot of material that was reclaimed on the site, so rather than bundling all the used material into trucks and exporting it somewhere else, we found appropriate, environmental uses for the material on the site, which has reduced the overall cost.”
Doubt said it is his impression that the regional district is still applying for grants to help reduce the cost. He asked staff about the progress on the applications.
Let’s Talk Trash team member Tai Uhlmann said the regional district is still waiting to hear and expects to get word by the end of January. Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said she did not have any updates.
“We’re just waiting,” said Greenan. “We haven’t had any inkling that the announcements are imminent.”
Gisborne asked about operational costs for the project. He said August Recyclers currently deals with solid waste.
“When we get this resource-recovery centre up and running, with all of its amenities and benefits, do we have any estimates regarding the annual operational costs to run the system?” asked Gisborne. “This is a big-ticket item and I’m wondering what additional costs we are going to potentially face?”
Greenan said projections were done when the solid waste plan was updated and it is projected that the cost will be a little bit higher than what is being paid now.
“The reason for that is because of the change in service,” said Greenan. “We have to increase the level of service to comply with what the ministry of environment requires of us. We are not expecting a drastic change.”
Uhlmann said for local residents, when they go to the site, they will have opportunities for lower tipping fees when they divert their waste, so there will be cost reductions for residents.
“As long as the waste is separated, there will be opportunities to save money,” added Uhlmann.
State of the art asset
qRD chief administrative officer Al Radke said the region is going to inherit a state of the art asset, and one that will lead the region toward zero waste.
“That is a step in the right direction, because no matter how you look at the numbers, you will find the regional district’s investment in this far outweighs just sealing and leaving the site dormant and sterile,” said Radke. “We are on the right path and in the very near future we are going to be the controllers of our own destiny regarding solid waste management.”
Doubt said it’s easy to focus on the dollars and cents and how much has to be paid at tax time, but what often gets lost is the fact that all of the money benefits taxpayers and the people in the region. He said there will be environmental business improvements, waste management improvements, plus economic improvements.
“We lose focus sometimes and forget the benefits we are getting for those dollars,” said Doubt. “This is a great project and is providing a lot of things to make this a better place.”
Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander made a motion to share the report with Powell River Chamber of Commerce, which was carried unanimously.
