The community is breathing a cautious sigh of relief as town officials have endorsed a new option for the relocation of its waste transfer facility; an issue mired in controversy since last spring when council's first choice was a site beside Westwood Court Mobile Home Park.
The town's new choice – officially named New Option B – is about 500 metres away from the trailer court's 230 citizens on a three-acre site in the west side of the current waste transfer facility, located a block south of 37 Street.
“We heard the residents loud and clear,” said Coun. Mark Kemball, one of three council members on the town's Operational Services Committee (OSC) that recommended the new site location. “I think we always try to listen to what the public has to say. You get a bit of a reality check when people say, ‘Hey, I don't think that is the right decision and here is why.' It made us take a step back and look. That is all part of the process.”
But victory has not yet been totally claimed by many of the estimated 100 citizens who attended the town's much-anticipated open house on Sept. 30 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre. Town council must still pass the new site location proposal, which will see the removal of the garbage compactor but the continued use of the burn pit. Mayor Brian Spiller said it is expected council will vote on the proposal at its regular meeting on Nov. 10.
“I think it is a win-win. I'm sure level heads will prevail. They (council) will look at the pros and cons too,” said Spiller of council's upcoming vote. “They will choose with a level head. I am sure the right choice will be made.”
Westwood resident Dan Giesbrecht, who has been one of the trailer court's most vocal leaders opposing the town's first plan, said New Option B is an “excellent compromise”, adding council would be “foolish” to reject the OSC recommendation.
“I think it would be a foolish choice for the council to now backtrack and go back to Option A beside Westwood Court. I feel those present would consider it a betrayal,” said Giesbrecht, who added the tentative victory by trailer court residents is not necessarily one to be happy about. “I never wanted to fight, but I also know that Westwood Court needed people to stand up for it. The vulnerable people at Westwood Court needed people to stand up, and for that I am very glad we were able to hopefully win that.”
The open house attendees, split between trailer court residents and those living outside Westwood, were told the capital on-site and off-site costs to construct the new waste transfer site for New Option B total about $492,000, if the work is fully contracted out. The biggest single cost is the $355,000 price tag to build a new access road. The total cost for New Option B compares to about $282,000 for Option A, the site beside Westwood park.
However, town officials said during the open house that $200,000 could be saved with New Option B over the next five years with the continued use of the burn pit. By keeping it the town would not have to contract services for mulching, which was being planned for Option A.
As well, the audience was told the new access road needed for New Option B was already being looked at by the town for a future industrial subdivision to the south. The town purchased the land for the road in July for $125,000. In the end, the final costs to the taxpayer are expected to be a “wash” when both options are compared, the audience was told.
“Initially the startup costs will be more, depending how long we can continue to use the burn pit. And then we recover those costs,” said Kemball. “All in all I think the costs will be a wash, maybe (we) even end up ahead.”
But not every citizen who attended the open house was feeling the same sense of relief as expressed by others.
Westwood resident Sandra Wright conceded there was a “little bit more” hope for trailer court residents but questioned why the town still left Option A on the table when it had little or no support from citizens, inside and outside the park.
“It still bothers me, very much so. Why can't they just do it, and say it and get it over with. The frustration is still there,” said Wright.
June Jakob, a Westwood senior citizen who is battling brain cancer, said she would have preferred a new option proposed that is much farther away from the trailer court, noting the burn pit will still remain and create unhealthy air quality issues for trailer court residents.
“I am not happy with it but it is better than what we could end up with. I don't want it 100 yards away from my back door. But it is not really that much farther away really,” she said. “And don't think we are not going to get stench and smoke. We are. They (town) are not facing up to it. I don't trust them for a minute.”
Spiller said the town has a policy to control burning on foggy, rainy days and when the wind is blowing out of town to the southwest.
The mayor added the lengthy public discourse over the issue has been a good exercise for both residents of Westwood and the new council, although he stopped short of saying the town made a mistake with its initial site selection beside the trailer court.
“I am not saying we made a mistake or anything and we made a decision and we re-looked at the decision once we had another option available to us,” said Spiller, adding he could not identify any lessons council learned from the controversy.
“I would say no because I am not going to consult the public on everything we do. We don't have the time to do that. They elect us to do the job and trust in our judgment,” he said. “But this time they made us re-look at things and that is all right. We don't have the time or the manpower to re-look at every one of our decisions.”
