Councillors come under fire over landfill issue at ratepayers meeting
By Scott Woodhouse - Express Staff

The ratepayers group approved the motion at its annual meeting held in the basement of the Annan United Church Saturday morning.

The ratepayers voted to approve the standard retainer agreement in the wake of news out of Owen Sound last week that the city would continue to pursue expansion of the Genoe Site.

A Lura Consulting report delivered to Owen Sound City Council last week, recommends that Owen Sound should formally request that the new amalgamated Municipality of Meaford waive the clauses of the 1983 agreement signed with Sydenham Township. The Certificate of Approval for the site only allows landfilling on 10 hectares of the 60 hectare property.

The 1983 agreement between Sydenham and Owen Sound restricts the development of a regional landfill on the site or any expansion without the consent of Sydenham. The previous Sydenham council voted unanimously against any expansion.

Diane Charlton, chair of the ratepayers group and a member of the Sydenham Waste Management Citizens Group, reported that she had requested Meaford council rescind its motion to enter into discussions with Owen Sound regarding the Leith water system and the expansion of the Genoe landfill.

Meaford councillor and chair of the Waste Management Committee, Harley Greenfield, admitted Meaford passed the motion, but said there have been no further discussions.

"We've agreed to negotiate - we're not going to cover that up," he told the hostile audience.

Ratepayer Grant Walker accused the new municipality and Owen Sound of "attempting to do an end run around the citizens of Sydenham." Walker wanted to know if the rumour that the city had purchased a property adjacent to the Genoe site and was planning to just open a new site was true.

Greenfield answered that he was not aware of any land purchases for that purpose. In answer to other questions, Greenfield said the Municipality of Meaford had not yet consulted a lawyer regarding the previous agreement between Sydenham and Owen Sound and that the council was not looking at any alternative sites for a landfill.

Greenfield said the previous Joint Owen Sound/Grey County Waste Master Plan, which picked the Genoe expansion as the preferred alternative, was driving the process, but added Meaford council planned to investigate alternative methods of waste disposal, like incineration.

Walker said even with incineration, they would still need a landfill site. "Once this is passed Genoe will become the county waste dump," said Walker.

The ratepayers were angered that Leith water issues were being tied to the dump debate.

"Let's have some guts. Stand up to the city and fight this. We need leadership from our council," said Walker. Mayor Gerald Shortt, who was also in attendance at the meeting, said he "felt sorry for people living near a site" but added it's "obvious we need to have a landfill unless you do something else."

Alternatives like incineration are expensive and would require city participation to be economically feasible, said Shortt.

Ratepayer John Tinker urged council to "avoid a legal morass that you will lose anyway."

Tinker, a resident on the Leith shoreline, said he had been involved with the landfill issue since it started 25 years ago.

"An absolute condition of the approval was that there be no expansion," said Tinker. "That contract was conveniently forgotten during the joint task force's site selection process - a stunning fact of negligence."

Tinker said that the municipal amalgamation was "like three streams coming together," and that the new entity has all the legal obligations and liabilities of the previous municipalities.

"It is an obstacle that cannot be gotten around. You are heading down a dead end street that is going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money," said Tinker. "this may appear to be an easy road but it is not. You are going to end up in a swamp you cannot get out of."

Meaford Deputy Mayor Robert Reid, a member of the former Sydenham council, said he had been through this same process once already.

He said they were saddled with the Grey County/Owen Sound Master Plan Study, which he said was flawed because they did not find the original agreement.

Reid said Sydenham council spent $50,000 on a legal opinion and voted unanimously to oppose any further expansion of the Genoe site. "What part of no doesn't the city understand," he said.

Ratepayer Ed Cook said the City of Guelph has implemented a wet-dry waste disposal system that has eliminated the need for landfilling. He said incineration was too expensive -$5 million - and that the councils should be investigating alternatives like Guelph.

The ratepayers group passed the retainer agreement with Gowling, LaFleur and Henderson, with the stipulation that if a lawsuit was necessary, a meeting of the association would be called before approving any expenditures.

"This retainer is our club - it's the only strength we have," said one member of the association.

It is estimated that the current dump will reach capacity within three years, and the Luras report to Owen Sound council recommended the municipalities that use the site look for alternatives, such as hauling waste to other municipalities, if it closes before a new site can be brought on-line.