A recent public meeting to discuss the pilot project at the Lac la Hache Transfer Station (LLHTS) was well attended.
About 40 people turned out to hear Cariboo Regional District chair Al Richmond and CRD environmental services manager Mitch Minchau explain the transfer station pilot project results to date.
As part of the CRD’s Solid Waste Management Plan, the LLHTS was targeted for the pilot program to add recycling, gated and controlled access, wood waste collection and some other cost-saving changes.
Richmond says the primary concern expressed was with the restricted access hours.
“In the time it is closed midday, there was concern that we need to shrink that time down, and there was a concern about summer hours of operation … when it is [currently] closed two days a week.
“So, we’ve taken those comments and we’re going back to look at some options, and see what we can do.”
Folks in attendance were generally happy with the addition of cardboard recycling at the site, he explains, and support the plan to spin that off into accepting further recyclables once the spring weather arrives.
“We hope that within the next few weeks, we’ll know what we’re going to take, and what it’s going cost to take it.”
People also voiced approval of the added cleanliness of the site, Richmond noted.
“I think some would prefer to have access 24/7, but we explained that’s just not going to work with recycling being contaminated by garbage, so we have to have some controlled entry at the site.
“We’re now actually [also] taking wood waste there, so we need to know [that] is clean wood waste.”
Lac la Hache area rancher Diane Wood says she went into the meeting with some concerns, but those were alleviated by details provided by Richmond and Minchau.
Her concerns included the daily 11 a.m.-3 p.m. closures, but she explains the CRD did a “really good job” of explaining the reasons for this and the cost impact of extending opening hours.
“They explained to us why it has to be closed for compaction. You can’t have the public in there when that [heavy equipment work] is going on. So, that made sense, and because of that compaction, it’s been saving a lot of dollars.
“I guess we all need to work around it a little bit if we want to have all the recycling and the rest of it. We have to have [some] flexibility, too.”
However, Wood adds she would still like to see the midday closure hours tightened up somewhat.
While money is being saved through reduced hauling of unsorted trash, Richmond notes the extended hours and a person now on staff to maintain the “share shed” do eat into those funds.
“We’re trying to do it within the existing budget … there was no increase this year in our solid waste management [function].
“The [LLHTS] is showing us there are some savings, around $50,000 a year over last year’s cost of operation, roughly. So, we can apply some of that to maybe tinker a bit with the hours, which we are going to look at, and apply the remainder to recycling.
“Overall, it was a positive meeting.”
At their March 22 board meeting, CRD directors received and discussed survey results from the Lac la Hache transfer station pilot project.
Based on the results and feedback from residents, the CRD has expanded the total public accessibility hours for the Lac la Hache site and future controlled waste facility sites to 46 hours during the period of Oct. 1 to March 31, and 52 hours during the period of April 1 to Sept. 30.
