South Simcoe reps lead way on new county landfill
by Richard Blanchard

The support of the mayors and deputy mayors from the five South Simcoe municipalities provided the bulk of the votes to build a new landfill site near Elmvale.

Nine of the ten representatives from South Simcoe voted in favour of proceeding with Site 41 in Tiny Township last Tuesday.

In an extremely close vote, 16 county councillors voted in favour of the proposal and 15 against. With the use of a recorded voted which gives larger municipalities more votes, the vote total was 63 to 54.

Adjala-Tosorontio mayor Tom Walsh was the only county councillor from South Simcoe to vote against the proposal.

Walsh said the he had always been opposed to the construction of new landfill sites and that he saw no reason to change his mind when the vote came on the Site 41 proposal.

"We opposed a new landfill site in our municipality and have taken considerable efforts since to reduce the amount of waste heading to landfills. I think that there is a better way of handling it," he said.

New Tecumseth mayor Mike McEachern said that his vote was determined by the extensive technical work and studies completed over the past number of years on the proposed site.

"I read the reports related to the proposed site's Environmental Assessment and other report and I couldn't find any problems with the approval," he said.

McEachern said that he had received a lot of phone calls from neighbouring residents of the site but he based his decision on the background material.

"It seemed a logical decision. I went for logic," he said.

New Tecumseth deputy mayor Rick Milne said that he based his decision on the supporting materials as well.

"I have been against landfill sites since the proposed site in Adjala-Tosorontio but I read all the technical reports and there seemed no problems with the site," he said.

"We have spent $8,000,000 and 28 years discussing this site. It seemed the time to get on with it," he said.

Both Innisfil's mayor Brian Jackson and deputy mayor Gord Wauchope also cited the the extensive technical studies supporting the site as their basis for their votes.

"I think that the best interests of Simcoe county as a whole were supported by the vote today. I read all the technical and professional reports and they formed the basis of my vote," he said.

Wauchope also agreed that the best interests of the county were served by the vote supporting the opening of the site.

"We asked for a lot of supporting technical reports on the impact of the site. I was swayed by the technical background," he said.

The vote saw over 200 residents attend the meeting which saw the county council chambers filled to capacity with extensive protests before the meeting at the county building. Ontario Provincial Police were on hand to provide security.

Bradford West Gwillimbury mayor Doug White urged council during the debate to make a decision on the proposal.

"With at least a decade of time where we saw a whole series of provincial approvals and millions of dollars spent. Enough is enough. After the copious studies and a Certificate of Approval (from the province), it's time to move on," he said.

Opponents of the site argued that more studies needed to be completed in order that the area's pristine water was not affected.

"What's the rush?," said Tiny township deputy mayor George Lawrence.

"We will be spending millions and millions of dollars over the next century to monitor the landfill site,"

Preliminary work on the site is expected to begin on the 50 acre site next month. About $659,000 will be spent on the first stage of developing the site this year.