Following weeks of controversy and overwhelming public opposition, the Town of Innisfail is now looking at a different option for the relocation of its waste transfer site.
The town issued a press release on July 24 stating “recent presentations and expressions of concern” have forced staff and council to reconsider the move of the local dump to town-owned green space beside Westwood Court Mobile Home Park, home to about 230 citizens.
The press release said the town's review will include a new option for the location of the waste transfer site - an option the town claims was not feasible until recently. The town has not identified where the new option is located. Mayor Brian Spiller said it will not be made public until its review is completed. He added the current council-approved option next to Westwood court is still on the table.
“Maybe it (new option) will work or maybe we will be back to the option we did have on the table but first we have to go over it ourselves without any public scrutiny and we will work it out and hopefully come up with something that is better, more compatible for everybody,” said Spiller.
The review of the new option is expected to take the next eight to 10 weeks. The results will then be presented at a public forum, which is expected to be held in late September. Citizens' input will be considered by council before a final decision is made, said the town press release.
“I hope we can come up with a suitable solution. You are never going to please all the people, and some tough decisions aren't going to please people but at the same time we are looking at the entire picture,” said Spiller in a later interview. “Unfortunately we just can't look at only one area and try to please one while displeasing another area. Hopefully we can come up with a solution that pleases a majority of the people.”
Spiller said the town's decision to look at another option was not due solely to growing pressure from Westwood residents, or with the increasing criticism and opposition from citizens outside the trailer court. He said a combination of factors played into the town's decision for “sober second thought”, including budget constraints and internal concerns from some staff who insisted there were better uses for the land next to the trailer court other than utilizing it for a waste transfer site.
He added council was not caught off guard by the public backlash it has faced this summer. “No we weren't. We knew it was coming,” said Spiller, adding they had not expected public outrage back in late April when council approved administration's recommendation for the new location. “I don't really remember what day we expected it but we knew there was going to be some opposition coming.”
Meanwhile, initial reaction from Westwood of the town's announcement of a “sober second look” was positive.
“I am still glad that they listened to us. As I said before we will still be watching this like a hawk,” said Don Corcoran, a Westwood resident and one of the trailer court's leading organizers of protest against the town plan that was approved by council on April 28. “We will still oppose that site beside the trailer court but I am happy there has been some movement and some public acknowledgement of our actions.
“Our resolve was only growing from the recent comments from some councillors,” he added, noting some councillors from the July 14 council meeting said they were not swayed to change their minds about moving the dump next to Westwood after hearing a pair of presentations against the plan.
“We will definitely be following the process,” added Corcoran of council's plan to look at another site. “I will start attending council meetings regularly here to see what the heck is going on.”
