The service cost for recreational vehicle sanitation dumps at the Greenwood Campground has doubled, but Sundre residents will be exempt from the charge.
Council agreed to increase the fee during its Aug. 29 meeting following a presentation by administrative staff.
“In our boundaries, we have three dump stations,” said Ian James, community services manager, during his address to council.
All available for public use are OutWest Truck and Car Wash, Wagons West RV Park as well as the Greenwood Campground. Adjacent to the Town of Sundre's boundary is the Tall Timber resort, but its services are only available to its patrons and not the general public as a whole, he said.
The OutWest Truck and Car Wash as well as the Greenwood Campground's disposal stations are connected to the town's sewage system. The dump station at Wagons West is a septic system that requires pumping. Although it is not directly connected to the town's sewage system, the wastewater pumped from that septic system ends up being deposited into the town's lagoon, he said.
While the privately run enterprises charge $10 per disposal for non-campers, the town-owned and operated Greenwood Campground only charges $5. So a manager from one of the businesses requested the town consider increasing its rate to meet the local businesses' standard, he said.
After researching the issue further, James told council he had learned from discussions with other managers from other sites in the surrounding area that “they have admitted that they are actually sending in some of their guests to Sundre to dump because the fee is so much lower.”
That results in a decrease in the sewage lagoon's capacity without appropriate fees being collected by the town to support the rising infrastructure costs, he outlined in a report to council. So administration presented council with a recommendation to increase the Greenwood Campground's dump fee to $10 from $5.
Coun. Myron Thompson said he was in favour of the recommended motion but that he wanted to make an amendment.
“I favour that motion to exclude Sundre residents,” he said.
Sundre residents already pay their wastewater bills for the time they're gone during summer months, so it's not particularly fair to charge them again with a dump fee even though they have not been putting any additional burden on the town's sewage system while they were away, he said.
“I say, if you're a Sundre resident, you pay nothing,” the councillor said.
Mayor Terry Leslie expressed support for Thompson's amendment, and suggested that people can simply present a driver's licence or other proof of residency to be excluded from the disposal fee at the Greenwood Campground.
Council went on to carry Thompson's amended motion unanimously.
