For a guy who has been on the district's payroll just short of three months Brian Barnett sure knows how to get our attention. Barnett was hired recently as acting manager of engineering and has over 20 years of experience in the engineering field. His Comprehensive Solid Waste Strategy (CSWS) report tells us we've basically got until the end of this year before our landfill is history.
According Barnett's calculations, "something must be done quickly to ensure there is a viable waste disposal option for the community."
The document cuts to the chase and bears little of the verbal embroidery that many muni dispatches have contained in the past. It presents new alternatives, as well as solutions offered to council previously that were either rejected or deferred.
Now, in the wake of the CSWS report, council has bought in by directing staff to prepare a solid waste disposal agreement to address the changing conditions at the landfill. Council also supports, in principle, the report's commendation to create a new solid waste project manager position for an 18-month period, and an immediate upgrade to the landfill with consideration for the acceptance of waste from Whistler.
Ironically, the resort municipality constructed on a garbage dump suddenly finds itself scrambling to find landfill space. Recently Victoria announced that the province will soon prohibit cross border export of solid waste. As a result Whistler, which has shipped its trash to Washington State since 2005, is looking for an alternative site.
Although adding Whistler's garbage would cut our landfill's lifespan from 15 to eight years, the CSWS report presents that scenario as a viable and profitable option for the district.
But not everyone agrees. Back in July of 2009 former district operations manager, Gord Prescott, told us that "we'd be better off having it long-term for Squamish than the savings in either capital or reduction in operating costs," provided by offering Whistler a dumping deal.
Last October, during another round in the landfill tug-of-war with council, district consultant Tony Sperling recommended the redevelopment of a portion of the existing Squamish site through vertical expansion using reinforced retaining walls. He suggested funding the $2,145,760 cost from the 2010 capital budget, but council deferred the proposal. During that meeting a frustrated Gord Prescott said "I'm hoping this is the last time we come forward with this." The CSWS report contains a similar vertical expansion plan.
By all accounts the zinger in the report is the recommendation to create a separate solid waste division, which would operate like a water, or hydro utility, with residents being billed directly for the service provided.
At the moment the manager of operations is in charge of landfill operations and the manager of engineering is responsible for capital projects, including landfill upgrades.
While our budget conscious council feverishly trims the fat from every municipal department, will adding a new layer of management complete with salaries and overhead, be cheaper and more efficient in the long run than the existing arrangement?
