What People In Springwater Say about Development

Development In Springwater-This is what the people think.


During the election campaign, many people expressed a desire to see the Township of Springwater retain its enviable lifestyle of rural and small urban living. Many stated that they moved to Springwater because of the proximity to Barrie but also the ease of access to a quieter and simpler style of living. Most acknowledged that they were willing to forego some of the amenities offered by the larger urban centres, if they could retain the open space, small community atmosphere and access to nature.


To better understand the wishes of the residents I signed up to use an online survey tool and constructed a brief survey for residents to complete if they so desired. A number completed the survey and here are the results of that survey.


The questions were simple and easy to follow.

Most people have thought about the potential of uncontrolled development especially in the Midhurst and Hillsdale areas.

The fact that 80% of people feel that development must be controlled goes against the concept that developers are the best ones to decide how to build the future of Springwater.

It appears that most residents feel that Springwater is an area where smaller developments are in order that are complimentary to the mainly rural nature of the township. There are obviously a lot less conflicts with agriculture if we continue at the pace we have experienced over the last many years.


The 500 plus proposed development projects are contrary to all provincial planning policies in non growth areas and definitely not something that is desired by most of Springwater residents. I am sure the two respondents in the 500 or more homes a year represented some of our larger development community.

It is interesting to note that Midhurst and Hillsdale with two official plans and the township’s focus for larger developments are out of sync with what the electorate feel is appropriate. We know the largest developments on the table comprising about 5,000 homes over the next 20 years are focused around Midhurst.

It is interesting that many residents including those in Midhurst think that is poor planning and inappropriate for Springwater. The Province in its guiding policies would like to see development in areas that already have complete infrastructure. The only fully serviced community and only complete community is Elmvale. I find it interesting that the general public have put more thought into future development than all the expert staff and previous council members.


This next issue doesn’t need to be regurgitated but is interesting. If you want to really understand how poorly the rates were established and implemented speak to Fred Archer.

I witnessed the mixed messages he received from the previous elected officials during his number of appearances at planning and council meetings earlier this year. I understand that the whole development charge matter will be one of the first things this council will address.

The employment land focus is the Hillsdale Flos Four West/CR 93 area, Snow Valley and Bertram Business Park, which are all good areas for industrial growth.

However, there seems to be little done to promote Elmvale employment lands where there is access to an excellent labour force and a number of support services that could be an incentive for companies that want to locate in Springwater.

When it comes to development, it is the people of Springwater that should decide. There is a misconception that development will mean a new stream of revenue for a municipality. If you read the Hemson report that was prepared for the County prior to their most recent Official Plan, it suggests that there is no proof that new development of any kind provides addition free cash from the actual development charges or the new assessment. The expenses for new and added services that accompany development typically equal or exceed the new revenue stream. At best development is revenue neutral.


Everyone I met during my campaign, except for a few developers and land speculators, believe that Springwater should grow at a slower and more orderly pace then our big neighbor to the south. Springwater is not a designated urban node growth centre and its allocation of another 6,000 people over the next 20 years by the province in its Growth Plan Amendment would allow the township to address the needs of its residents in a well planned fashion without incurring a major debt servicing. That would mean about 150 homes a year on average which would be easily incorporated into the existing services and infrastructure.


Talk to your newly elected officials and emphasize the importance and urgency of the need for the township to develop its own concise plan for future development. It must be our elected officials that create the long term vision and plan for orderly growth, rather than the paid staff or the large developers. They should be viewed and used as advisors. They should not be the decision makers. My experience as a committee of adjustment member for 5 years suggested that some staff have a distorted view of good planning which is not necessarily in the best of the township.


Springwater’s residential, commercial and industrial growth must be complimentary to the rural nature of the township. This allows our settlement areas to live in close harmony with the mainly agricultural landscape of Springwater.


Keep informed and attend the Planning Meetings whenever you can and attend public meetings on Planning issues when they arise.


Everyone on this new council appears to be open and interested in a more transparent approach to government in Springwater. Keep informed and spend the time to talk to this fresh group of individuals. They have the ability to move this township out of its adolescence and be an example of an efficient, visionary municipality.


Bill French

Grenfel

Springwater Council Inauguration

Dec 6, 2010: With rather inclement snowy and windy weather, over 200 people braved the elements and attended the first inauguration of a Township Council at Springwater’s new Administration Centre that opened in the Fall of 2009. The new council includes Mayor Linda Collins, Deputy Mayor Dan McLean, Councilors Dan Clement, Perry Ritchie, Rick Webster, Sandy McConkey and Jack Hanna.

The atmosphere was different this time around. There was a fresh, positive and upbeat expectation from the crowd that gathered. Most of the new council were surrounded by friends, supporters and members of the public that have made Springwater a very special place to live, work and play.

Justice James C. Crawford who officiated the Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance commented that as a criminal court judge he seldom has the opportunity to conduct such positive and uplifting ceremonies.

Most of the new councilors thanked those that had assisted in their campaign and all acknowledged the support of family in the campaign and in public life.

Mayor Collins in her first address as Mayor repeated her campaign promise of building a team of trust and cooperation. She thanked the previous mayors of Springwater including Coutts, Brown and Guergis for their dedication and different styles of leadership which has brought the township to where it is today. She acknowledged the enthusiasm of the new council and I think there is a general agreement that this new council is different from the councils before it.

It appears that all new members of council want to engage the public and all seem to be easy to talk to. I was told that the council will implement changes that will allow public comment and engagement in the near future. That will be positive for both the residents and will better inform the council of various issues of the electorate.

I am sure it may have been a result of the timetable or a simple oversight, but a number of people that contribute to the well being and orderly operation of the township were not appropriately recognized. It would have been a gesture of goodwill if all those that have applied and been accepted on the 9 boards and committees had been recognized rather than just a call for the newly appointed members to stand. These are the committees and their members. Accessibility Advisory Committee, Denise Calvert, Natalie McCarthy, Marg O’Neill, Peggy Norton-Harris and Deputy Mayor Dan McLean; Committee of Adjustment, Gregory Barker, Cor Kapteyn, Tami Kitay, Gerald Sullivan and Robert McClung; Fenceviewers, Jim Lalonde, Charlie Renaud and Gerald Sullivan; Heritage Committee, Peter Archer, John Beaulieu, Ruth Byers, Greig Stewart, Don Molloy, Philip Saunders, Marlene Hilton Moore and Councillor Sandy McConkey; Library Board, Lisa Buchanan, Margaret Campbell, Helena Howell, Donna Kenwell, Nancy Kuikman, Reet Skelton, Dave Snedden, Brenda Stride, Monique Winter and Councillor McConkey; Livestock Valuers, Reg Cown, Charlie Renaud, and Bernard Terry; Recreation Advisory Committee, Carl Luoma, Jill Robertson, Karen Ritchie, Doug Kirton and Councillors Dan Clement and Jack Hanna; Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, Councillors Perry Ritchie and Rick Webster; Community Policing Committee, Councillors Webster and Hanna. All these people need our support in these important positions.

During the campaign there were a number of references to the township being young and like an adolescent. I believe this newly elected council will finally bring the township to a level of maturity where self serving interests will be set aside. Having chatted with all the new council members, I do see a focus will be placed on what is good for both the Township as a corporation and the 18,000 residents that call it home.


Congratulations to the new council and those many people that have accepted the positions on the local committees and boards.

Is it fun to lose? NO!

Is it fun to lose? NO! My reflection on Running for Mayor in Springwater Township


With that said, I would not have missed the opportunity of meeting so many people in Springwater over the last two months. Travelling around our vast township, I was encouraged and inspired by the hundreds of people I was able to speak with. I personally visited about three thousand homes in Elmvale, Phelpston, Hillsdale, Anten Mills, Snow Valley, Centre Vespra and Minesing areas. Securing 33% of the votes attest to the fact that people did want change in our Township. I was disappointed I could not crack the deep rooted political force led by some of our previous municipal leaders. The real problem the group had with me was their feeling I had not paid my dues by working my way through the ranks. I think that was a narrow view. I ran on experienced leadership that has been so lacking and exemplified by recent self serving heads of council. But as they say that is politics.

I enjoyed our town hall meetings, even the one in Minesing where the former deputy mayor spent more time defending the old council instead of being an effective moderator. It became clear after he interrupted my first question at 30 seconds that he was out to disparage me. The good thing is that people are not stupid and recognized his petty politics. I really enjoyed the live Rogers TV debate in Barrie and was a little disappointed that my two opponents did not want to engage in another televised debate from Rogers in Collingwood.

When I review everything I did during the campaign, I cannot think of any real changes I would have made. My platform was clear and the people I spoke to supported it. Transparency and Fiscal Management are important to everyone in the township and I hope this council follows through.

I was amused by one fact. If you recall, the past council spearheaded by the two former heads of council (complaining about Michael Jacob’s editorials) passed a unanimous motion to move the Township information page to the Barrie Advance from the Springwater News for a year because they wanted more effective communication. Isn’t it ironic that every one of those candidates running for council (including the outgoing mayor) ran ads in the Springwater News and none in the Advance. To me this illustrates the petty politics of the last council which I hope is gone for good. I must give a special plug to the Springwater News . Many of the people I spoke to during the campaign asked if I was the Bill French or C. William French that wrote letters to the editor and business articles in Springwater News and the answer of course was yes. Many commented on the campaign ads I ran and asked good questions prompted by those ads. This little home grown newspaper is read in all areas of the township. Why? Because people want to know what is going on in their municipality. I hope the new councilors pick up on Michael Jacobs’s offer to publish comments from the new councilors in the Springwater News on a regular basis. You will notice that the local MP’s and MPP’s file regular columns and actually pay for them because they find the paper a valuable communication link.

Would I do it again? The simple answer is yes, but based on the newly elected members of council, it will most likely be unnecessary. Even before this last campaign, I approached our new incoming deputy mayor after he filed his nomination papers and asked him if he wanted to consider stepping up to the Mayor position. I contacted him as his first newspaper ad seemed to be in tune with my thinking. I told him that if he wanted to run for mayor, I would most likely withdraw and support his efforts. I ran because I felt and still feel that I was the only candidate for mayor that had actual leadership experience and could lead this council and the township to a new level of performance. The good news is that there are a number of new councilors that have the background and experience to seek the top job in the next election and I believe will push to make the changes I outlined in my campaign during the new term.

In the end I did not get the job I sought but I am pleased that more voters engaged in the process. We the voters have brought new faces and a fresh approach to the next four years of council. We definitely got change and rid ourselves of self serving interests.

In closing I must thank the more than 50 people that volunteered and assisted in all aspects of my campaign. A special thanks to the encouragement I received from people like Keith and Ina Wood and God’s blessing on Donny Nelson who I promised two weeks before his passing that I would challenge the position for mayor. Another special thanks goes to the lady I call Super Trooper! She knows who she is.

Bill French

Grenfel

Collins Wins with a Decisive Margin

Congratulations to Linda Collins on her victory on Monday Night.
The people have spoken and have entrusted you to put Springwater back on track following many years of poor leadership.
I wish you well.

Bill French

Development-But at what cost?

The more I read about residential development, I find it interesting that most of the potential development land in Springwater Township is held by a few speculators under different corporate holding company names. At Council and Planning meetings it sounds like the council feels obliged to respond to their bullying tactics and grant them development rights. Many of the designated residential growth areas are not yet zoned for development and most are still agriculture. There is no rush to build on these designated lands. In the Midhurst area most land designated for future expansion is actually prime agricultural land.
I for one, am not for fast and large residential development as it is not complimentary to the rural nature of Springwater. Large developers have their place in the world and work very well in larger urban centres like Barrie for example. The size of their developments in the 2,000 plus homes would not be unusual and would bring little attention as they would be in keeping with other developments in the area. As a comparison a 2,000 home development would mean about 5,000 extra residents in Barrie or a growth of less than 3%. If you take that same development size and place it in Springwater that would be a 30% increase in population. There are two developments of that size planned for Midhurst by one developer. That to me is uncontrolled growth that the township is not capable of properly controlling or servicing. I prefer the orderly development of the smaller developers and builders that has occurred in Elmvale, Anten Mills, Phelpston, Snow Valley and Minesing. The developments to date in the Midhurst and Hillsdale area have also been orderly, but that could change dramatically if some mega projects proceed.
It appears that both developers and council at times pick and choose their particular take on provincial policies. The one thing that is ignored is more jobs closer to home. The idea of compact accessible communities as dictated by the province attempts to reduce the dependence on the automobile. That means there must be more jobs closer to residential development. The intent of the province was not to create more bedroom communities. I was intrigued to read the agenda for the Feb 25th Springwater Planning Committee meeting where one developer is attempting to re-designate land from Employment to Commercial some distance from the residential clusters of Snow Valley or Midhurst. I am sure it simple economics. It is tough to find a job creating Manufacturing or Service enterprise, but probably easy to find another tenant for a strip retail plaza. The agenda says the request is from Geranium through its various land holding companies. I was pleased to see that planning has recommended no action on this request.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in progress and growth but at a reasonable and cautionary pace. I know we can’t stand still and I would be the last to suggest such a thing. I plead with residents to get involved, talk to your councillors and come to the planning meetings. Without your input the councillors at times feel they have no alternative but to give into the pressure of these large corporations that do not understand or care about the rural nature and character of Springwater Township. We are the stakeholders of this Township. If we do not express our views, we will get what we deserve, unbridled and poor development. We are at that precipice in development in Springwater. In the end, if we fail to engage, we will be paying higher taxes for infrastructure long after these opportunists have went on to pillage the next small municipality

Very Very Very Frustrating Experience

This article is not as refined as I would like, but I felt needed to be published on this site as a cry for help.
There is no other way I can describe the County of Simcoe Waste Management Strategy information session I attended in Alliston on Monday night at the Nottawasaga Inn. The County politicians and staff continually complain that they do not seem to be able to get the message out to the taxpayers. What they seem to be missing is that the message they are sending is either unclear or to put it more bluntly unacceptable.
It becomes painfully obvious that neither the County nor Stantec truly understand waste management. When questioned, the Stantec mouthpiece stated the best approach to waste management is diversion. That is the fundamental flaw in the strategy. There was nothing outlined on any of their boards that even remotely suggested that the aim in the long term is the elimination of the necessity for waste management. It won’t happen over night, but that has to be the goal. In other words there is nothing in the plan to eliminate waste at the source, except for supporting the initiative that the province may undertake in its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) direction and some education to encourage consumers to make better choices.
The end result of this $200,000 plus Stantec contract, which will now be in excess of $250,000 in my estimation (because of these pesky taxpayers that want to be involved in the process which was not planned), will recommend more diversion, less pickups, more user pay fees and so on. Same old stuff as we have seen for the last 20 years since the County became responsible for waste management.
The open house itself spoke loudly to the County and Stantec’s lack of environmental understanding or awareness. Do they not realize that waste management is an environmental concern as it impacts our water and air. Here are some examples of environmental ignorance. The large display boards were all mounted on foam core which is Styrofoam based (very difficult to recycle or reuse). When asked, no one could tell me if the printed material that was distributed was recycled. I would say it was not, based on the feel and finish. There were free shirts and bags handed out to the attendees. The bag was re-useable, but the expense was a waste. I assume this was advised by their $250,000 PR consulting firm. This could have been eliminated and no one would have been disappointed. The survey booklet asks whether the County itself should undertake a “green procurement” policy. Most companies including the large auto manufacturers have done this for years as part of their ISO 14000 environmental responsibility certification which was first published in 1996. How can the County suggests it’s a leader in waste when it has not even attempted it themselves.
People please get involved. The County and Stantec are attempting to fast track a plan that in my estimation may be worse than what led to Site 41. Millions of dollars again could be wasted on another 20 years of misdirection. The Strategic Plan should not be finalized until the province concludes its long term direction or we will be in the same situation as we now find ourselves with the growth plan for the County. Phone, email and write your Mayors and Deputy Mayors (they are the County Councillors and decision makers) and have the process slow down so proper vetting can take place. I know former warden Guergis would like to add a completed waste management strategy to his resume as one of his accomplishments before the next election, but an ill conceived strategy will do very little good for us the taxpayers. We will be paying long after Mr. Guergis rides into the sunset at the next election. Please threaten your local politicians with political loss if they fail to take control and truly develop a well thought out plan that the County of Simcoe can be proud of.
Please attend either the meeting Tuesday Feb 9 at the Wasaga RecPlex or the Wednesday Feb 10 meeting in Midland at the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre from 4:30 to 8:00. The presentation and Q & A is at 7:00. Have your voice heard.
I was recently reminded that if we fail to participate in the democratic process we will be governed by those that do.

No Wonder People are Frustrated

I read the attached article by Stephen Ogden. (Just click on the title above and it will take you there).

It is almost unbelievable that county politicians and staff are so isolated in their thinking on waste management. It is clear that this vision written 20 years ago was an actual plan, not some spin created by a county bureaucrat through their consultant stooge. This only reinforces the importance of residents attending the information sessions on waste management that I posted recently. Please come out and support those who are truly trying to correct a travesty that is only being amplified by our county politicians and senior staff.

We Need Your Voice on Waste Management

Do Not Miss these Meetings:

On Monday Feb 8, Tuesday Feb 9 and Wednesday Feb 10 next week, the County are hosting information sessions. It is imperative that as many people as possible engage in this exercise. For the skeptics like me, the open houses are a charade. However it will do us no good not to participate. We cannot allow the arrogance of the county bureaucrats to control the destiny and continue with their ill fated plans for waste management. Your attendance will certainly be uplifting to those people on the Waste Management Strategy Advisory committee who are working hard for a visionary and long term sustainable solution.

Please come out closer to the 7:00 p.m. time slot as that is the only time there will be an open forum for questions. The first two and half hours is window dressing where the county's stooges will try to lull you into a false sense of security. Don't buy it for a second.

The following information is lifted directly from the County website.

Seeking your input...

We all generate waste. At the County of Simcoe, it is our job to manage your solid waste. To do this in the most environmentally and fiscally responsible ways, work has begun on a waste management strategy.
The strategy process will consider options to deal with your waste including:
• Ways to further encourage waste reduction and reuse
• Ways to encourage waste diversion
• How garbage, organics and recyclables will be collected
• Options for the processing of recyclables and organics
• How waste is transferred
• How do we dispose of garbage in the future
Before we move forward, we need to discuss the many options with YOU and get YOUR input. That’s why the County of Simcoe is hosting a series of public consultation sessions to get your thoughts on how we can work together to manage your waste.
Join us at the following locations to share your perspective. For more information, please visit wastestrategy.simcoe.ca.
Feb. 8
Nottawasaga Inn 6015 Highway 89, Crystal Ballroom
Alliston
4:30PM to 8:00PM

Feb. 9
Wasaga Beach RecPlex
1724 Mosley Street, Oakview Room
Wasaga Beach
4:30PM to 8:00PM

Feb.10
North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre
527 Lens Self Boulevard, Bill Thompson Room
Midland
4:30PM to 8:00PM

Same Old County Approach

I attended the Waste Advisory Committee meeting in Midhurst on Monday.
It now appears that the motion by the former Warden to form the committee was more about positioning and control rather than really finding new leading edge solutions for waste.
It appears that Stantec have been given a mandate to keep going in the same direction with some lip service that the County is a leader in waste management. Now that is a joke.
In business, we would at times establish a steering committee and they would discuss where we wanted to go in general terms and decide on a general vision. If the vision required outside expertise such as a company or consultant like Stantec, then so be it.
In the case of the County they engaged a consultant, directed them to come up with the vision and then established the Waste Advisory Committee. That is backwards and fundamentally flawed. That doesn't make sense as the vision, by all the documentation, has been established by the consultant Stantec prior to the first meeting which I believe are simply marionettes of the County's bureaucrats. In summary they propose to do the same as they have over the past number of years but try to divert a little more waste. It was stated by councillor Little that Site 41 might even become a transfer station. Did any of these guys at Stantec or at the County Administration work for GM?
The committee have excellent lay people with expertise and passion to really make the County a leader in Waste Management. It is unfortunate that their thoughts and ideas are somewhat dismissed in the dialogue.
I am also surprised that the County did not learn from its attempted control of the information session prior to the Site 41 County Moratorium back in the Spring of 2009. Within ten minutes the moderator (a high paid Lawyer) lost control and the meeting turned into what it should have been, an open dialogue and question period of the panel. The motion passed at the committee on Monday is suggesting an open house with displays and an opportunity to write out your questions or discuss your concerns one on one with the representatives from the consultant. Instead of expressing the flaw with this approach in my words, Kate Harries has said it well. Here is what she said about the proposed open house information sessions.

" Those of us who have experience of other public processes know that the open house format is designed by consultants to benefit consultants.
They control the framing of the discussion.
They can discard any awkward questions as being outside their view of what the discussion is about.
They can keep quiet about any inconvenient information that a member of the public may elicit
They control the record keeping.
They control the selection of comments to be reported from the open house... and
They control the manner of the reporting.
The process is fundamentally undemocratic. We call on the Warden and Council to intervene and ensure that proper public MEETINGS be held, so that people can come together as a community and hear what the County is proposing and what their neighbours have to say. The process needs to be transparent, fair and objective. The Steering Committee needs to be at the centre of the process. The consultants should be there for technical support. Members of the Steering Committee should attend the public meetings so they can hear from the public and answer questions. At each public open house there needs to be an opportunity for questions to be asked and answered in a recorded public forum. The minutes would then become part of the public record for the benefit of the Waste Strategy Steering Committee and the public at large."

This says it all.

If the County is serious about regaining any level of credibility before the next election they must be more transparent. The information sessions for their Waste Management Strategy is a good place to start.

Zero Waste Simcoe

The County of Simcoe has established an advisory committee to work with the County Staff and the consultant Stantec to develop a twenty year plan for its waste management. The initial report by Stantec appears to be more of the same with an uncomfortable slant to landfills as a big part of the solution. For some reason this approach still seems to make logical sense to the senior bureaucrats at the County who are directing the exercise.
I attended a meeting in Midland last week which was a town hall format and chaired by Gordon McKay from Zero Waste Simcoe (http://www.zerowastesimcoe.org). Even though it was an eclectic crowd, many consistent concerns where tabled, which Gordon will take to the next meeting of the waste advisory committee on Monday.
Waste is a growing problem and all of us are part of that problem. We must become part of the solution, if we really want to abandon the use of landfills in the longer term.
I encourage people to get involved with Zero Waste Simcoe and support their efforts and attend the County meetings which are open to the public. We saw what can happen when the citizens put pressure on the politicians to change their stance as happened with Site 41. Let us avoid another insane approach to waste management by putting pressure on the County as they develop the plan. This may help avoid spending 10 to 15 million dollars of our hard earned tax dollars on another debacle like Site 41.
Your presence would be appreciated on Monday January 18th starting at 9:00 a.m in the Council Chambers at the County Administration building in Midhurst. Please be involved and help us as a community come up with a new leading edge and inventive solution rather than follow the path of mediocrity in our long term waste solution.

EDHS Important Meeting Tonight

The following is a brief overview of the current SERVE status. I encourage all to attend this important meeting tonight.

The Springwater Elmvale Rural Voices for Education Committee (SERVE) and the Township of Springwater have been working together to try to save Elmvale District High School (EDHS) from potential closure.

At the Simcoe County District School Board meeting of May 21, 2009, Mayor Guergis presented his strategy to create the community of Elmvale as a Campus, now referred to as the Community Campus Partnership Strategy (CCPS).

Mayor Guergis has met with the School Board on several occasions regarding the CCPS and has received significant interest in the development of this strategy. The Elmvale Campus has been adopted as the key strategy that SERVE and the municipality are working on to help keep EDHS in Elmvale.

We are now asking for your partnership to support the CCPS.

With 18,000 + residents and growth to 26,000, the community has an ever present need for a secondary school and community use facility. Partnership opportunities surely exist right in our own community. You, your business or organization may be one of them!

A SERVE meeting will be held at the Springwater Township
Administration Centre Nursery Road
Tuesday January 12th, 2010 at 7:00 pm.

Anyone with partnership opportunities or ideas is
invited to attend this public meeting.
NO IDEA IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL!

Waste Management Strategy-My View

I follow with interest the developments at the County of Simcoe as it relates to its Waste Management Strategy.
I am very suspicious in the fact that an outside agency Stantec is to develop a Strategy for Waste Management for the County rather than the senior bureaucrats undertaking their own research and at least providing a vision for the future. Have county staff only directed their thinking to landfills as a solution for waste? The County was certainly not a trend setter or leader when it came to general recycling or green bin collection and simply followed others. In recent years I have become a believer in conspiracy theories as I have observed the antics of our County Elected Officials and staff, especially in its Site 41 saga.
Anyone spending five minutes on Google will most likely provide the same conclusions as Stantec will provide after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their consulting expertise..
The reality is that waste management is not brain surgery, provided we as the consumer step up to the plate and provide pressure. The most effective waste management is elimination at the source. Just review the packaging that accompanied your Christmas gifts. Some of the heavy plastic shrink-wrap and vacuum seal material required the use of a chain saw to open the enclosed item. None of this material is recyclable or is virtually useless in its secondary use. Dad's and Oreo cookies, which I really love, are in my no purchase zone as they represent a growing problem. I was pleased up to about three years ago that the packaging was entirely recyclable using a paper bag and a corrugated divider. Today it is made from a non-recyclable plasticized bag and a plastic divider. There are many products that have shifted to this type of packaging over recent years. The reason is simple. They want to be able to have the product last longer and have it shipped from greater distances under the guise of efficiency. These changes add to the green house gas problem rather than reduce it. The problem is at the source and unless we focus on elimination, we will never contain the growing waste epidemic. Zero Waste Simcoe get this and hopefully the ears of the County are listening. Unfortunately it will take our efforts lobbying the government to impose regulations on the producers. Yes we may have to pay a few pennies more, but is it not worth it? This Christmas I received a remote controlled helicopter that was made in China but to EU specifications. Aside from two small plastic bags containing small parts, all the packaging was recyclable corrugated. If you read the waste management plans for Europe, because of lack of space for landfills, they are much more serious about addressing the problem than we in the West. And yes like us, they are accepting it slowly.
The second approach to waste reduction and more preferable than recycling is reuse. We finally have recognized the major problem we created at land fills and recycling with that little toxic disposable water bottle. Why don't we simply eliminate them. Until about ten years ago they didn't exist. Yes, we created a billion dollar industry compounded by scares like the Walkerton tragedy, no longer trusting our community water supplies. The small and large plastic bottles of water were deemed the answer. Years ago, most products like jams and peanut butter came in glass jars that everyone reused for canning and storage. What was wrong with that? I can recall when I was President of a company in the 80's and the awareness of the growing volume of landfill waste became a prime concern, we as a company wanted to do our part. The first step was the elimination of styrofoam packaging from supplies shipped to us. We shifted from the use of styrofoam popcorn packing to recycled paper based material. We asked our suppliers to eliminate their brands and logos from their packaging, so we could reuse the boxes for our shipments. Aside from reducing the amount of recycling and waste we saved money. We chose Barrie's Moore Packaging for our corrugated supplies as they were a leader in recycling corrugated eliminating all of our landfill destined corrugated material. We had one major supplier redesign the shipping containers for a high volume raw material we purchased, so that it could be returned and reused. Based on a longer term agreement they agreed. As a result, their market share increased when some of our competition realized we were developing a competitive edge by emphasizing waste reduction in our business philosophy. That was well over twenty years ago.
The next choice of course is recycling. Too many think this is the answer to the world's waste problems. It should be a small part of the solution. The unfortunate thing is that many plastics become unstable in their reuse and are used for various products that may have been made from a more environmentally friendly longer lasting material originally. I think of the two garden hose reel holders I bought in the last 10 years. They were manufactured from recycled material but failed within a couple of years after sunny summers and cold winters. Previously, most holders were made from steel a much more environmentally friendly product. They virtually lasted forever. Some of the recycling we do may in fact be more detrimental to the environment we profess to be protecting. It is part of the bandaid solution.
I don't know enough about composting except for the large pile we have down by our garden which provides us with very rich and usefully garden material each Spring. I think more emphasis needs directed to home composting combined with the balance of green collection. Unfortunately some people no longer use their backyard composter and simply dump all their food waste into the green bin on collection day. I am not sure that is a step forward.
To forever eliminate the possibilities of another Site 41 fiasco, we need to do our part. It will cost us time and money, but it will be all worth it. The priorities for waste reduction in order of importance must be established; Elimination, Reuse, Recycle, Compost and then less preferable Incineration and then as a last resort Landfills.
I urge people to support the efforts of Zero Waste Simcoe. They have the right idea but we as the residents must fully support their efforts if we truly want to reduce the environmental footprint that each of us leave everyday as we climb into our high powered sports sedans, SUV's and pick up our morning coffee at Tim Horton's Drive-Thru in a disposable cup.
The County may lack vision and try to pawn off their responsibility to a third party like Stantec, but in the end we are all responsible for the mess we are in.
For more information on what the County is doing go to this link and view both the Stephen Ogden and Gord McKay clips on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/simcoeregionchapter