Dump_closures_loom

Jeff Green | Jul 15, 2005

Feature article July 14, 2005

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by Jeff Green

At a meeting of Central Frontenac Council this week, Public Works Manager Bill Nicol requested direction from Council in regards to their intentions for two dumps that must be closed in the next couple of years. The Elbow Lake dump, located on Road 38 south of Parham, and the Arden dump, are almost full.

Bill Nicol wanted to know if Council was planning to turn them into transfer stations or was planning to close them altogether. He needs to know soon, because if the transfer station option is chosen, the dumps will have to be closed sooner in order to prepare the sites for a station. Otherwise, they can be filled completely, covered, and closed.

Nicols report briefly outlined two possible transfer station set-ups. In the first case, a transfer station set up, including bins and a concrete pad could be established according to Ministry of Environment regulations, at an estimated cost of $50,000 per location, and with an added weekly cost of $550 to transfer the garbage to the Olden and Crow Lake sites.

The second option is for the township to purchase a used garbage truck and have our own staff transfer waste daily to the other sites. This proposal has a higher capital cost of $75,000, but the weekly operation cost should be less than half of what a contractor would charge for transferring waste, Nicol said in his report.

A savings of $275 per week translates into a savings of $14,300 per year in operating costs at each site.

I need direction from Council soon, Nicol said. If Council decides to go for a transfer, I need to know about it in time to make it happen, Nicol said

Council seemed surprised at having to face the stark reality of pending dump closures.

Its a very expensive item, without very much lead time, said Councillor Janet Gutowski. I think we need to set up a committee to study this. Im not prepared to make a decision based on a three line report.

I think its important, especially since the Wilkinson dump was closed, that a transfer station be set up at least at Elbow Lake, said Councillor Bill Snyder.

Some councillors were not as convinced about the case for a transfer station at Arden, since the Olden dump is not that far away. This opinion did not extend to councillors from the immediate region around Arden, including Jack Nicolson, Logan Murray, and Deputy Mayor Faye Putnam.

Olden Councillor Bill Guigue, however, said, I think we should close the Arden dump and I dont think we should have a transfer station.

Bill Guigue also had a more sweeping proposal.

I think we should turn all of our landfill sites over to private interests. They would have a good reason to separate out metals and other re-saleable items and that would extend the lives of the landfills.

Deputy Mayor Putnam asked about the effect of the Arden material at the Olden site.

It will divide the expected life, which was 91 years in 2001, in half, said Bill Nicol.

The Crow Lake site has a much shorter expected life span, so within a relatively short period of time Olden may indeed be the only active dump in the township.

We need to start enforcing recycling, said Councillor Frances Smith.

Council decided to strike a committee to look at the transfer station issue. It will be made up of Bill Snyder, Logan Murray, Janet Gutowski and Mayor MacDonald.

In North Frontenac, plans are being finalised for the closing of the Cloyne dump in the fall of 2006. While the township is working towards developing a thermal solution to its Waste Management, it will be several years, if ever, before anything comes of that.

In the meantime, there are no plans to turn the Cloyne site into a transfer station. Residents will use the site on road 506 once the Cloyne dump closes.