BONNYVILLE – A final decision has been made by MD of Bonnyville council when it comes to where residents will drop off their household garbage and recycling following the closure of the Riverhurst Hall Bin Site.
But, it was not the outcome that some MD residents had hoped for, including those who attended the Aug. 24 regular council meeting to speak out against the proposed location for the bin site.
In a split vote, a motion was carried to approve a development permit allowing for a municipally owned parcel of land to be used for a garbage and recycling bin site and public drop off facility adjacent to the River Haven Estates subdivision, located at SW 15-63-3-W4M.
Councillors Don Slipchuk, Ben Fadeyiw, Josh Crick and Reeve Barry Kalinski voted in favour of the development permit, while councillors Dana Swigart, Mike Krywiak and Darcy Skarsen voted against the motion.
The Riverhurst Hall Bin Site was closed as of March 23, as a one-year pilot project approved by MD council, following a growing use of the Riverhurst site and a lack of space to increase the number of bins at the location to meet the demand.
After the closure of the temporary Riverhurst site, MD residents were redirected to dispose of their household waste and recycling at the Hilda Lake Landfill.
This transition resulted in 14 complaints being lodged to the municipality, confirmed the MD’s manager of waste services Brad Ollen.
Residents voiced concerns about Hilda Lake Landfill’s limited hours of operation. The landfill is open three days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The municipality also heard that residents had to store garbage for extended periods of time before they were able to drop waste off at either the Hilda Lake Landfill or another bin site.
In correspondence sent to the municipality, other possible solutions brought forward by residents included making the Hilda Lake Landfill more accessible by increasing hours of operation or having an extra bin located outside the landfill's gates, as well as suggestions of different locations further away from residential areas.
Adjacent landowners voice concern
Before council voted on the development permit, three River Haven subdivision residents spoke at the meeting to share their concerns and ask council members to consider a different location for the garbage and recycling bin site.
“I do have a concern about these dumpsters being put here because in the past when they were at Riverhurst Hall, the people from the City of Cold Lake used the (bins) a lot. There's a lot of people that use Highway 55 to go to work from Cold Lake and that was their dump site too,” Kevin Lashbrook told council.
Lashbrook was concerned that locating the bin site at the end of Range Road 433 will result in large volumes of traffic down the dead-end road that runs parallel to homes. Due to the site's close proximity to Hwy 55, he feels it will continue to encourage non-MD residents to utilize the disposal site.
“There has to be a better place for this. This is a residential area, it's a nice quiet street. There are lots of kids on that road,” Lashbrook added.
In a letter signed by both Lashbrook and his wife, Elaine, to the municipality on Aug. 11, they included several other concerns about the new bin site’s location. Because the bin site would be accessible 24/7, the Lashbrooks are not looking forward to increased traffic, especially in the evening hours.
They also worry about the potential decrease in property value, the possibility of bad odours and attraction of wildlife, along with the potential of theft as more people enter the area.
Concerns over wear and tear on the road due to increased traffic and garbage trucks picking up waste bins and increased dust was noted as well.
“I truly believe we can collectively find a solution that would work for everyone in our area,” wrote the Lashbrooks.
In response to residents’ written and voiced concerns, Ollen told council members that the municipality’s bin sites are visited by MD staff at a minimum of five times per week.
Waste bins are emptied a minimum of three times per week, cardboard bins are emptied once per week, while the plastic and paper bins are emptied every three to four weeks. Cleanup crews also visit each site a minimum of once per week.
“When we supply enough bins to serve the needs of the residents, we don't end up with the overflowing bins. We don't end up with garbage on the ground, or bags of garbage stacked up,” said Ollen, acknowledging that people do end up inappropriately disposing of some items such as fridges, freezers and couches near the sites. However, these items are cleared away in a timely manner, he added.
Addressing concerns of poor odour, Ollen pointed out that the municipality has “numerous bin sites that are located within 300 metres of numerous residents... And we've not received any complaints about foul smell and noise pollution over the past seven years that I have worked here.”
He also noted that the municipality does have plans in place to address dust concerns on the access road to the bin site from RR 433.
The waste services manager also emphasized that “provincial regulations are not being bent or broken to construct a public waste drop off facility as per the Alberta government's webpage.”
Issues around attracting wildlife can also be mitigated through proper use of the bin site, he says.
“Are we going to say that a 100 per cent chance there's not going to be any animals going to the site? No, we cannot obviously, but when we remove the waste in a timely manner, and the lids are closed, we can mitigate those issues as we've had only one bear at a bin site this year, and that was over by Franchere (Bay Bin Site).”
One issue that Ollen couldn’t address was residents’ concerns over the potential for increased crime due to a higher volume of outside traffic being directed to the area.
“Regarding rural crime, which was brought up, I cannot speak to that issue unfortunately,” he stated.
Moving the bin site to its new location is estimated to be complete by Oct. 1, at a cost of $100,000, according to MD documents.
