THE ISSUES - THE DUMP
OVERVIEW
For a while, it looked like the dump might be sold off. Then, when pressed for an answer, the Mayor first said (in one breath) that it was not for sale - and then (in the next breath) he backpedalled and left the door open. After that, things seemed to settle down for a while. Budget time came around, and the prospect of selling it was back on the table again for consideration. It was one of the options included in a staff report, and it caught the favourable attention of at least one Councillor.
Now in a subsequent report, staff is recommending that the dump should be mothballed and turned into a transfer station, instead - supposedly to save money. But there must be another reason, because the numbers don't add up.
Now in a subsequent report, staff is recommending that the dump should be mothballed and turned into a transfer station, instead - supposedly to save money. But there must be another reason, because the numbers don't add up.
DETAILS
So ... is the dump for sale, or not? Throughout 2013, it sure looked like it.In December 2012, Lafleche Environmental made a presentation to Council about its services and its relationship with Leeds and Grenville Counties. This relationship included an attractive "tipping fee" contract which member municipalities (such as our Township) can take advantage of, if they wish. The presentation also included opening the door to the possibility that Lafleche might be interested in purchasing the Township's waste site. Subsequently, there were a number of closed meetings held on the topic.
When it became obvious that there was too much activity taking place behind closed doors, we blew the whistle and circulated an information flyer to as many mailboxes/homes as we could reach in the short time leading up to Council's June 24th, 2013 meeting.
The meeting was well attended by residents. Under pressure to respond to an inquiring public on the matter of selling off the dump, the Mayor first said, "No. That's the answer." But a short time later, he said, "Is the landfill site for sale? I can't answer that question, because I haven't had anyone make an offer."
Hmm ... that certainly cleared things up, didn't it?
In and effort to explain away the closed meetings, and the lack of information on the whole topic in general, the Mayor suggested that it was all a result of an NDA (non disclosure agreement) with Lafleche. When asked why we hadn't at least been told about the NDA itself, the Mayor's response was, "Because you didn't ask."
Another shining example of our Council's openness and transparency.
Selling Off The Dump - Back On The Table ...
After that, things seemed to die down. Any talk about the possibility of selling off the dump became almost conspicuous by its absence. That is, until November 2013 when it became clear that it was still very much on the minds of staff and (some) Councillors. Staff had prepared a report which, among other things, (re)outlined the option to sell off the waste site. This certainly caught the attention of Councillor Smith, who said (when interviewed by the newspaper) "... the option of selling the waste site was one that stood out to him among the five options."
When Councillor Smith went on to state that it would be "revenue for the municipality if the waste site did sell", perhaps he overlooked the lessons which could be learned from Brockville's prior decision to sell of its PUC (Public Utilities Commission) - namely, what does Brockville have to show for it now?
Then, in a January 2014 report, staff recommended against selling off the dump, and also recommended against the contracting out the entire operation. Thank goodness that sense sometimes prevails. However, staff instead asked Council for permission (they call it "direction") to look into turning the facility into a Transfer Station. While some may consider it "due diligence" to look at all options, there is a problem here - the report on which Council made its decision to investigate, was highly flawed. It contained wrong numbers and misleading conclusions. The Waste Management Committee has provided Council with various types of analysis, on several occasions ... but it always seems to fall on deaf ears.
In fact, Council's and staff's handling of this whole affair prompted the Chair of the Waste Management Committee to resign, and to challenge the Mayor and Council to an advertised, open, public debate on the topic of Waste Management within the Township. The challenge was never accepted - which speaks volumes.
You may not be aware of this, but other long-time and active members of (other) committees have also resigned during this Council's term, over serious concerns with Council's approach towards important issues. For instance, Allan Markell and Lyle Pederson - both former Chairs of the Planning Advisory Committee - resigned in 2012 over serious differences with Council.
Okay, so they won't sell it off - they'll just turn it into a Transfer Station instead ...
After Council took over the Waste Management Committee (if you're not already familiar with Council's attitude towards committees, [click] for more details), they started talking about mothballing the landfilling operations at the Greenbush site and turning it into a transfer station instead. They have even invited a company to come and make a presentation about large cork-screw type compactors.
This makes no sense. There are certain fixed costs associated with operating a site, be it a landfill or a transfer station - items such as hydro, snow plowing, staffing, etc. The only thing to be saved by operating as a transfer station instead of a landfill, are the costs directly attributable to distributing and managing the waste in the active landfill area. But as a transfer station, those operating costs would be replaced by the 3rd party tipping fees as well as transportation costs to get the waste to the 3rd party landfill - all of which mount up very quickly.
Just what is the underlying agenda here? Truthfully, it has us baffled.
Some thanks are due ...
We wish to extend our thanks to those residents who attended the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting, to express their concerns with potential issues surrounding the Greenbush Landfill site. We know there were also others who would have liked to attend, but were simply unable to rearrange their schedules on such short notice.
Although a subsequent newspaper article only highlighted comments and questions raised by the Burrow brothers, there were in fact many good questions and very valid points raised by several other residents as well.
Credit must also be given to Council for allowing what is normally a public question period to be treated more like a round table discussion - where, in addition to asking questions, participants could also share their opinions and suggestions on a number of topics. Reporter, Alanah Duffy, had to leave before the public question period concluded, so it was not possible for her to know all of that or incorporate it into her article.
Again, our thanks to all who attended and participated in the meeting (including, Council).
When it became obvious that there was too much activity taking place behind closed doors, we blew the whistle and circulated an information flyer to as many mailboxes/homes as we could reach in the short time leading up to Council's June 24th, 2013 meeting.
The meeting was well attended by residents. Under pressure to respond to an inquiring public on the matter of selling off the dump, the Mayor first said, "No. That's the answer." But a short time later, he said, "Is the landfill site for sale? I can't answer that question, because I haven't had anyone make an offer."
Hmm ... that certainly cleared things up, didn't it?
In and effort to explain away the closed meetings, and the lack of information on the whole topic in general, the Mayor suggested that it was all a result of an NDA (non disclosure agreement) with Lafleche. When asked why we hadn't at least been told about the NDA itself, the Mayor's response was, "Because you didn't ask."
Another shining example of our Council's openness and transparency.
Selling Off The Dump - Back On The Table ...
After that, things seemed to die down. Any talk about the possibility of selling off the dump became almost conspicuous by its absence. That is, until November 2013 when it became clear that it was still very much on the minds of staff and (some) Councillors. Staff had prepared a report which, among other things, (re)outlined the option to sell off the waste site. This certainly caught the attention of Councillor Smith, who said (when interviewed by the newspaper) "... the option of selling the waste site was one that stood out to him among the five options."
When Councillor Smith went on to state that it would be "revenue for the municipality if the waste site did sell", perhaps he overlooked the lessons which could be learned from Brockville's prior decision to sell of its PUC (Public Utilities Commission) - namely, what does Brockville have to show for it now?
Then, in a January 2014 report, staff recommended against selling off the dump, and also recommended against the contracting out the entire operation. Thank goodness that sense sometimes prevails. However, staff instead asked Council for permission (they call it "direction") to look into turning the facility into a Transfer Station. While some may consider it "due diligence" to look at all options, there is a problem here - the report on which Council made its decision to investigate, was highly flawed. It contained wrong numbers and misleading conclusions. The Waste Management Committee has provided Council with various types of analysis, on several occasions ... but it always seems to fall on deaf ears.
In fact, Council's and staff's handling of this whole affair prompted the Chair of the Waste Management Committee to resign, and to challenge the Mayor and Council to an advertised, open, public debate on the topic of Waste Management within the Township. The challenge was never accepted - which speaks volumes.
You may not be aware of this, but other long-time and active members of (other) committees have also resigned during this Council's term, over serious concerns with Council's approach towards important issues. For instance, Allan Markell and Lyle Pederson - both former Chairs of the Planning Advisory Committee - resigned in 2012 over serious differences with Council.
Okay, so they won't sell it off - they'll just turn it into a Transfer Station instead ...
After Council took over the Waste Management Committee (if you're not already familiar with Council's attitude towards committees, [click] for more details), they started talking about mothballing the landfilling operations at the Greenbush site and turning it into a transfer station instead. They have even invited a company to come and make a presentation about large cork-screw type compactors.
This makes no sense. There are certain fixed costs associated with operating a site, be it a landfill or a transfer station - items such as hydro, snow plowing, staffing, etc. The only thing to be saved by operating as a transfer station instead of a landfill, are the costs directly attributable to distributing and managing the waste in the active landfill area. But as a transfer station, those operating costs would be replaced by the 3rd party tipping fees as well as transportation costs to get the waste to the 3rd party landfill - all of which mount up very quickly.
Just what is the underlying agenda here? Truthfully, it has us baffled.
Some thanks are due ...
We wish to extend our thanks to those residents who attended the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting, to express their concerns with potential issues surrounding the Greenbush Landfill site. We know there were also others who would have liked to attend, but were simply unable to rearrange their schedules on such short notice.
Although a subsequent newspaper article only highlighted comments and questions raised by the Burrow brothers, there were in fact many good questions and very valid points raised by several other residents as well.
Credit must also be given to Council for allowing what is normally a public question period to be treated more like a round table discussion - where, in addition to asking questions, participants could also share their opinions and suggestions on a number of topics. Reporter, Alanah Duffy, had to leave before the public question period concluded, so it was not possible for her to know all of that or incorporate it into her article.
Again, our thanks to all who attended and participated in the meeting (including, Council).
RESOURCES and SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Under construction. We are busy preparing additional substantiating resources (documents, newspaper articles, etc.) to publish in this section. Please check back in a little while, or link up with our Facebook page to be notified of updates.
[Click] - Flyer circulated to as many homes/mailboxes as we could reach, in the days leading up to the June 24th, 2013 meeting. Along with other info, the flyer includes a timeline list of the key events (closed meetings, etc.) between December 2012 and May 2013.
[Click] - Letter to Council (June 2013) by a founding member, asking some probing questions about the Greenbush Landfill site. (The PDF file also contains some background documents, which were attachments to the letter.)
[Click] - Recorder & Times article covering the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting.
[Click] - Letters (2) to the editor (Recorder & Times) regarding the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting.
(will be added soon) - Staff report (November 2013) outlining options for waste operations in the Township.
[Click] - Recorder & Times article covering the November 11th, 2013 Council meeting.
(will be added soon) - Staff report (January 2014 - received March 2014) containing incorrect numbers and misleading conclusions, and seeking a number of specific directions from Council.
[Click] - Letter of resignation (March 2014) from the Chair of the Waste Management Committee.
[Click] - (text of) Recorder & Times article covering the January 2014 staff report, the Chair's subsequent resignation, and context from a former member of another committee.
[Click] - Flyer circulated to as many homes/mailboxes as we could reach, in the days leading up to the June 24th, 2013 meeting. Along with other info, the flyer includes a timeline list of the key events (closed meetings, etc.) between December 2012 and May 2013.
[Click] - Letter to Council (June 2013) by a founding member, asking some probing questions about the Greenbush Landfill site. (The PDF file also contains some background documents, which were attachments to the letter.)
[Click] - Recorder & Times article covering the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting.
[Click] - Letters (2) to the editor (Recorder & Times) regarding the June 24th, 2013 Council meeting.
(will be added soon) - Staff report (November 2013) outlining options for waste operations in the Township.
[Click] - Recorder & Times article covering the November 11th, 2013 Council meeting.
(will be added soon) - Staff report (January 2014 - received March 2014) containing incorrect numbers and misleading conclusions, and seeking a number of specific directions from Council.
[Click] - Letter of resignation (March 2014) from the Chair of the Waste Management Committee.
[Click] - (text of) Recorder & Times article covering the January 2014 staff report, the Chair's subsequent resignation, and context from a former member of another committee.
PLEASE ATTEND COUNCIL MEETINGS
The clearest, most effective message you can send to Council, is to attend their meetings. So long as the public gallery is empty, they will get the impression that no one cares.
It would be hypocritical to hold Council responsible for the outcome of all things if we are perpetually absent from the process, ourselves.
Typically, Council meetings are held on Mondays. [Click] to open the Township's official calendar in a new window.
It would be hypocritical to hold Council responsible for the outcome of all things if we are perpetually absent from the process, ourselves.
Typically, Council meetings are held on Mondays. [Click] to open the Township's official calendar in a new window.