In response to complaints about bad smells and misuse, Bowden council has approved the elimination of a problematic community compost area north of the Bowden arena.
Council passed a motion at its July 22 meeting to close an area where people can drop off compost on 19 Avenue.
Part of the motion also calls for the enhancement of the compost drop-off area at the corner of 18 Avenue and 22 Street beside the town's Friendship Centre.
That upgrade includes the creation of a new concrete pad at the 18 Avenue location—at a cost of roughly $15,000— where the compost collection bins will sit.
Last month, Sean Schindel appeared before council to share his concerns about the 19 Avenue compost drop-off area.
He lives across the street from the site and said the stink from the compost disposed of there is terrible and nearly constant.
“For those of us who live beside it, it's so not right,” Schindel said, adding people are also dumping garbage there.
He asked council if the compost area could be moved to a single municipal compost area at Bowden's town shop on Highway 2A just south of the downtown core or out of town.
After Schindel's presentation, council discussed the idea of replacing compost drop-off centres with a system where people put compost out for weekly pickup in clear plastic or paper bags.
Town staff were directed to look at the costs and options available for the weekly compost pickup option.
Coun. Sheila Church said in an email that town staff determined the weekly pickup concept isn't feasible because the town's garbage trucks do not have hydraulic lifts necessary to pick up the bags and the weight of a bag of wet grass would exceed provincial safety standards for manual lifting.
Council therefore decided to close the 19 Avenue compost disposal area to address concerns about the site.
Coun. Patrick Doll asked whether other, more cost-effective materials could be used for the enhanced compost area on 18 Avenue rather than the concrete pad and Andy Weiss, the town's chief administrative officer, said town staff could investigate the costs and benefits of various materials.
