The future of the town’s recycling depot is up in the air now that the regional waste commission will soon no longer be responsible for hauling the material away.
The Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission board has given written notice that effective Jan. 1, 2019, municipalities will be responsible for disposal of materials collected.
Town of Sundre CAO Linda Nelson said town officials are exploring alternative options that will have minimal impact on those currently using the depot.
“We are hesitant to close the site without a viable alternative,” Nelson told councillors during last week’s regular council meeting, reading from a letter drafted in response to the commission’s notice.
Currently, the waste commission has unmanned recycling depots in Sundre, Olds, Cremona and Carstairs as well as in the Midway and Eagle Hill areas of Mountain View County.
Paper, cardboard, tin cans, glass and mixed plastic can be dropped off free of charge. The local member municipalities do cleanup of the sites and material is picked up by a third party contractor.
Facing a projected $364,000 deficit for 2018, the commission is working to reduce costs and increase revenue in the development of its 2019 budget.
The commission’s chair says it is hard to track the volume of recycling and where it ends up and its new CAO is expected to look into the issue of recycling more thoroughly.
In its motion to discontinue hauling from the recycling centres, the commission’s board did vote to continue collecting recycling at its transfer stations.
Can Pak has been contracted by the commission to haul recyclables from Sundre’s depot located at 6th Street SE next to the soccer fields.
The contractor currently hauls three times a week.
Nelson said her written response to the commission points out that if this service ends, there should be a reduction in costs to the commission.
She has asked the commission to provide projected costs of opening the Sundre transfer station an additional two days a week.
The transfer station accepts recyclables and is currently open Fridays and Saturdays.
The depot is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day and is well used by both county and town residents, Nelson said.
She has also asked the commission to weigh in on what an equitable cost sharing agreement between the town and Mountain View County would be for the current curbside recycling the town pays for through a separate contract.
“We are requesting the following information to assist us in making a well-informed, logical decision, with the effect on the citizens using the facility as a primary consideration,” the letter stated.
Council accepted both the commission’s letter of notification and Nelson’s response letter as information.
“I am definitely in favour of this response letter,” said Coun. Cheri Funke who chaired the meeting in Mayor Terry Leslie’s absence. “I know the waste commission is going through a lot of changes right now and I’m happy to see that we’re actually being proactive in getting our wants addressed.”
