Feature Article June 17, 2004
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Why not sell tags at dump, NF councillors ask Garbage problems surface again at Councilby Jeff Green
I understand why the bag tag system is in place, but why are they not available at the dump site?
This question, put by North Frontenac Deputy Mayor Gleva Lemke to Councillors Bud Clayton and Dave Smith of the townships waste management committee at last weeks Council, was repeated several times by different Councillors.
If you go to the dump at Hwy. 506 on a Saturday, youll find a line up of cars as it is. The attendant doesnt have time to sell bag tags. said Councillor Smith
This answer didnt satisfy councillor Cybulski, who responded by saying The attendant has to spend more time explaining that tags arent available and telling people where they have to drive to buy tags. They might as well be selling tags to save people the trouble of turning around and driving off in search of tags.
The transition to the bag tag system has not been smooth in North Frontenac, and with the arrival of cottagers in the past few weeks, confusion and anger have mounted.
Councillors also asked why the system does not seem to be working in a consistent fashion at all township dumps. Councillor Clayton, who chairs the waste management committee, said the policy has been explained to all the dump attendants on several occasions. Council sets policy, said Clayton, and staff deals with operations.
Part of the confusion has stemmed from the two colours of bag tags that are used, and from the nature of the grace period that has been put in place.
Dump attendants have blue tags, which they are to hand out to people who bring in more recycling than garbage.
If someone brings in two bags of recycling and one bag of garbage, they dont need a tag for the garbage and they will take a blue bag tag home to use at another time. Its not that complicated, said Councillor Clayton
The bag tags that are for sale are yellow, and they are available at the township office and at various businesses within the township.
In the transitional period, dump attendants have been told to be lenient towards people using the dump for the first time since the bylaw took effect in May, but on their second dumping people are expected to comply fully with the bylaw.
The bag tag system was raised by Cottage Association representatives at a meeting held just before the cottage season began, and the bylaw was put in place right when cottagers began arriving.
Mayor Maguire explained that the township needed to have the system in place when Bon Echo Park opened up in the spring, because we werent allowed to charge Bon Echo for dumping garbage unless all users of the dumps were being charged. We didnt want to go another year of using up our limited dumping capacity with garbage from the park without receiving revenue for the system.
Comprehensive zoning bylaw delayed
The comprehensive zoning bylaw of the township, which is the legislative companion to the Official Plan adopted by the township last year, was to be approved at this meeting, but a couple of points have been made through a public consultation process that the township would like to review with the township planner Glen Tunnock on June 22, so the bylaw has been deferred until the second meeting in July.
New Phone system: Clerk/Administrator Penny Sharman presented a report on the state of the townships phone system. The system is scheduled for replacing, and since the township phone system is crucial in cases of major emergencies such as the microburst of 2002 and the Ice storm of 1998, the township has received a funding commitment from the province to help pay for a new system
With the hiring of a new Internet Technology-Administrative Assistant (public works), the current system is not able to provide phone lines for all employees, and Penny Sharman requested a new system be ordered immediately, at a net cost of $3,542 to the township.
A motion approving the expenditure was passed unanimously.
Incineration possible after all
The prospect of purchasing an incineration unit for garbage from North Frontenac and Addington Highlands got a boost earlier this month from the previously reluctant Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
Waste Management committee representatives from Addington Highlands and North Frontenac, along with Karen Fischer, the Manager of Economic Development from Frontenac County, met in Toronto earlier this month with Lois Corbett of the Ministry of the Environment.
It was an excellent meeting, Councillor Dave Smith reported to North Frontenac Council last week. I was afraid Lois Corbett would just say no, and that would be the end of it; but the fact that we live in what is called a no clay zone, and with the condition that we are seeking only to deal with garbage from the two townships, led her to say the Ministry would look kindly on our proposal.
Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky indicated earlier this spring that while she remains sceptical about incineration, which she had opposed outright when she was an opposition MPP, she is open to looking at incineration provided it is not tied to any plans for importing garbage from one part of the province to another.
The fact that the Ministry of the Environment has indicated an openness towards the possibility of incineration, will allow an application to be prepared for funding from the Federal Green Enabling Fund to do the necessary engineering and environmental assessment studies.
Karen Fischer, who has been supporting the initiative, has indicated that she does not feel that she is qualified to prepare the application to the Green enabling fund, but she has made a contact with Steve Place, of a company called Earthtech, who will prepare the application for free in return for a chance to bid on the engineering and assessment work, should the project attain funding to progress to the next step.
North Frontenac is envisioned as the location for an incinerator, and Addington Highlands will be looking at establishing a sewage lagoon for human waste within the township for use by the two townships.
