In response to illegal dumping at the recycling centre on 49 Avenue, the Town of Olds will be locking the gates nightly starting next month.
On Sept. 8, councillors voted to start restricting access to the recycling centre past 9 p.m. on Oct. 1.
Coun. Mary Anne Overwater was the sole vote opposing the motion.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper said she made the motion due to the unsightliness of the area.
“I think that we are being forced to close our gates because a small minority of citizens … have chosen to disregard our recycling centre and are using it as a dumping ground,” Harper said. “I don't feel that our town staff should have to load up an entire household worth of furniture and take it to our landfill.”
Co-chief operating officer Scott Chant said operations staff members currently work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and thus, no one is on hand to lock the gate.
Chant added that he would consult with co-chief operating officer Doug Wagstaff to make workers available.
There are currently security cameras on location but according to Chant, their resolutions are not high enough to identify the illegal dumpers.
“If you couldn't get 100 per cent clear on vehicle plate or identification, it will be very tough to hold up in court,” Chant said about the experience of previous community peace officers who've tried to stop the problem.
“Yes, we see vehicles go in there, but to actually nail it down for a court of law, it's very tough without really high resolution cameras.”
Council briefly discussed whether the town should buy high-definition cameras but Coun. Wade Bearchell said the cost does not outweigh the benefit, suggesting “significant” fines as a better deterrent.
“We can take all the pictures that we want but then we have to go through the process of finding that person, taking them to court for basically nothing. So we're basically stepping over a dime to save a nickel,” Bearchell said.
Coun. Harvey Walsh suggested that any motion regarding illegal dumping fines be addressed through the town's proposed community standards bylaw.
Town chief administrative officer Norm McInnis said administration would be working on the fines portion of the proposed bylaw later.
