Addington Highlands Council – Nov. 21, 2011

Jule Koch Brison | Nov 24, 2011

Waste management report may be based on inaccurate numbers:

A final report from Cambium Environmental on Addington Highlands’ Waste Recycling Strategy, which was presented to council two weeks earlier, was the subject of criticism at this week’s council meeting in Denbigh.

Several items in the report caused Reeve Henry Hogg to wonder if Dave Bucholtz, the Cambium consultant who prepared the report, “had ever visited the waste sites”.

Hogg noted that one of the items in the report was public access to the recycling bins; however, in order to ensure that only clean recyclables are shipped out, the township has a policy that only staff can place recyclables in the bins.

He also noted that Cambium had never consulted with the waste management supervisor, Royce Rosenblath. Also, there was a comment in the report that front-end loaders could be used to reduce the labour of moving materials. However, the township does not have loaders at all its waste sites.

The report was based on 2009 data, and concluded that Addington Highlands’ recycling costs are considerably higher than the recycling costs of other municipalities in the same category - $1,660 per ton for AH, as opposed to an average cost of $565 for similar municipalities.

However, Reeve Hogg said he suspects that those figures may be based on inaccurate numbers. Royce Rosenblath is presently investigating the figures and the township hopes to have some answers soon.

In the meantime, Councilor Tony Fritsch said that the council should express their dissatisfaction with the report to Cambium, as the township paid for 50% of it. Council agreed and will send their comments to the company.

Demolished Kaladar Home: An ongoing matter has been a request for free dumping for the remains of a Kaladar area house once owned by Winnie Gutsell, which is now owned by Marie Jeffries. Andy Anderson had attended the Nov. 7 council meeting in Flinton to make the request again. A part of the house was demolished using funding provided by Lennox and Addington County.

Reeve Hogg has contacted the Lennox and Addington Social Services department and although the details are confidential, he has ascertained that the township has no contractual liability whatsoever in the matter. Councilor Fritsch commented that the township had nevertheless offered a helping hand in the form of waiving $150 in dumping fees, but the offer has not been utilized.

Joint Fire Board: Addington Highlands and North Frontenac Townships share a joint fire board for the Kaladar / Barrie Fire Department.

At its November 14 meeting, North Frontenac Council accepted two 16-year-olds into the Ompah and Plevna fire departments, though they will not be allowed to attend incidents until they are 19.

Although the Ompah and Plevna fire departments are not part of the joint fire board, the motion that North Frontenac passed said that the policy would apply to all fire departments funded by the township. This has caused Addington Highlands to bristle because of its possible application to Barrie as well, and Reeve Hogg said that the matter should have been brought to the joint board before it was dealt with by North Frontenac Council.

Reeve Hogg also said that there have been similar problems in the past with North Frontenac not consulting with Addington Highlands on the joint board. He commented on Monday night, “..What would be the implications if the Joint Fire Board were disbanded? It shouldn’t come to that, but I’ve asked them before - what part of ‘joint’ do they not understand…”