The town has finally announced the date for its long-awaited open house and information meeting into its controversial plan to relocate the waste transfer site.
The meeting will be held Sept. 30 starting at 6:30 p.m. with a presentation in the Community Room at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre, said a town press release issued on Sept. 11.
Mayor Brian Spiller said last week that the public will be presented with three options for the relocated waste transfer site, including its original one beside the Westwood Court Mobile Home Park, home to about 230 citizens. That plan has been strongly condemned by a clear majority of local residents, both inside and outside the park.
Spiller said the town is not releasing the location of the two other alternative sites until the evening of the open house.
“We want to keep it close to our chest until we have the open house and show the people where we are at with it,” said Spiller. “We will have three alternatives we will discuss and we will weigh our pros and cons at the open house.”
Town council promised Westwood residents in July, following a public uproar against the town's original relocation plan, that it would hold an open house. However, due to holidays taken by key staff personnel the date for it could not be set until last Thursday (Sept. 11), said the mayor.
“We weren't putting it aside. We were just waiting for the right staff to deal with it. Nothing nefarious about it,” said Spiller.
Don Corcoran, a Westwood resident and one of the trailer court's leading organizers of protest against the original town plan that was approved by council on April 28, said he was relieved a date was finally announced for the open house and that there are two other site options under consideration.
However, he is not happy that the site beside the trailer court is still on the table, adding the resolve of Westwood residents to fight the original plan is as strong as ever.
“I get stopped by anybody coming in and out of the park and people are asking me what is going on. I am sure they will be up for the fight,” said Corcoran. “If they still have the one at Westwood Court on the table at all I would be a little disappointed. I am glad there are two other options and we hope they are further way from anybody's residential neighbourhood.”
Corcoran said if the town ultimately decides to go ahead with its plan to relocate the waste transfer site next to Westwood homes the first course of action by residents will be to mobilize citizens inside and outside the park to voice their opinions to council. He said the next step would be to start a legal town-wide petition to force council to change its original plan.
“We are hoping that we don't have to go that route, but it is a route we can do to override bad decisions,” said Corcoran.
