Western Regional Waste Management Committee Meeting Minutes

Meeting Information: Date: Thursday, October 27, 2011 Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm Place: City Hall, Corner Brook, NL

Present were: Richard Farrell Town of Channel-Port aux Basques Eileen Hann Town of Port au Port East Geraldine Porter Local Service District in Bay St. George South Cynthia Downey Town of Stephenville Crossing Tony Blanchard Humber Economic Development Board (Irishtown) Walter Nicolle Town of Rocky Harbour Sheila Mercer Town of Deer Lake Jerry Martin Town of Hampden (Replacing Joan Parsons) Doug Mills NPRSB (NorPen) Don Downer Chair, WRWMC Jason King Coordinator, WRWM Pauline Anderson Office Administrator, WRWMC Wayne Manuel Bae NewPlan (Via Telephone) Boyd Wright Department of Municipal Affairs Cory Grandy Department of Municipal Affairs (Via Telephone) Barbara Barter Town of

Missing with Apologies: Donna Luther City of Corner Brook (Returned from Leave of Absense) Gary Bishop Town of Pasadena Linda Chaisson City of Corner Brook Rhea Hutchings WRWM Technical Committee Chairperson Ashley Burke MMSB Business Development Officer Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Don Downer at 6:05pm with quorum achieved. Cory Grandy (Municipal Affairs) and Wayne Manuel (Bae NewPlan) joined us via telephone.

Agenda for this meeting includes: 1. Review and approval of September 29, 2011 WRWM Committee Minutes 2. Business Arising a. Michelle Marley from MMSB (ICI) – meetings b. Website: www.wrwm.ca. Committee minutes need to be uploaded 3. Update from Coordinator, Jason King, on work-to-date and upcoming projects. 4. Chairs Report from Sub-regions and Representative Comments: Southwest Coast, Bay St. George, Corner Brook and Area, Western Hills, Long Range and Burgeo/Ramea/Grey River 5. Wild Cove Developments 6. Governance Model Sub-committee’s recommendation on Regional Service Board Structure 7. Next Meeting: November 24, 2011

1. Review and approval of September 29, 2011 WRWM Committee Minutes There were no comments on the September 29, 2011 meeting minutes; therefore, they were approved by consensus of the committee.

2. Business Arising a. Michelle Marley from MMSB (ICI) – meetings The committee recommended that the WRWM Office get in touch with Michelle Marley to arrange a meeting preferably before the end of this year. The issue of how to best handle ICI waste will especially be of concern as we get closer to the development of the transfer stations as ICI waste does not go into the normal waste stream. Michelle is very interested in meeting with WRWM to discuss the ICI issues for Western . The office will make contact with Michelle within the next week or so to set up a meeting and begin discussions. Michelle will also be invited to attend the November 24th WRWM Committee meeting to give a presentation to the committee on ICI waste. b. Website: www.wrwm.ca. Committee minutes need to be uploaded. All committee members are in agreement to post all adopted minutes to the public website as long as it is stressed that all dollar amounts mentioned in the minutes are estimates at this stage. It is important to be transparent with the public so they are aware of what is happening with Western Regional Waste Management.

2 3. Update from Coordinator, Jason King, on work-to-date and upcoming projects. Have been attending sub-regional meetings with Don, getting to know the people and the issues in the Sub-regions. Bay St. George: Met with St. Georges people and toured the site, also attended recent committee meeting when executive elections were held. Burgeo/Ramea: Met with Burgeo representatives to discuss their issues. Weather prevented travelling to Ramea. Western Hills: Met with the committee to discuss their issues. Corner Brook: Attended their Executive meeting involving them becoming incorporated. Met with Rhea Hutchings (Supervisor of Sustainable Development for City of Corner Brook) regarding a Business recycling cooperative (possible pilot project). Southwest Coast: Scheduled to attend their committee meeting next week (Nov 2nd). Long Range: Has been in touch (via email) with Brenda Biggin regarding HHW. Current topics the Coordinator is working on: I. Investigating municipal composting options in several regions, specifically with Vicki O’Leary with the Western Hills sub-region regarding smaller scale options. II. Household Hazardous Waste inquiries from Long Range, BSG, and Burgeo. a. Has made contact with MMSB regarding this and have been advised to speak with Glenda Melvin and will be pursuing this next week. b. Has been in contact with Darlene Newman in NorPen. She’s been very informative and supportive. III. Prepared a proposal for MMSB for Education and Awareness Funding. Received positive feedback and awaiting a decision on the proposal expected in December. IV. Researched information regarding the regional service board with population (2006 census) and geographic analysis in preparation for the RSB subcommittee meeting and in turn used this information in other areas. V. Coordinated the delivery of two compactor trucks for Bay St. Georges to the Deer Lake Transportation and Works Depot. A third truck is to be delivered next week for NorPen. Boyd will follow-up with T&W regarding a post delivery inspection of the trucks. Training for driving these trucks was included in the cost of the trucks. What’s upcoming: Giving a presentation and update of the region at the MMSB Forum November 17-18 being held in Corner Brook. Composing the first quarterly reports for MMSB and updates. Continuing everyday questions and meetings throughout the region. With winter approaching, researching web conferencing and Pragmatic conferencing (MMSB uses) that would allow the main office to be better connected with the sub-regions.

3 4. Chairs Report from Sub-regions and Representative Comments: Southwest Coast, Bay St. George, Corner Brook and Area, Western Hills, Long Range and Burgeo/Ramea/Grey River i. Long Range – WRWM Representative Walter Nicolle - Brenda Biggin chairs the committee. Brenda is seeking information on disposal of household hazardous waste. - Boyd Wright is working with them towards a tender for acquiring a transportation and collection contract. The tender is ready for Long Range to review at their next meeting. ii. Western Hills – WRWM Representatives Sheila Mercer; Jerry Martin (for Joan Parsons) - Executive includes: Chair: Vicki O’Leary; Vice-Chair: Ken Thomas; Secretary: Jean Young; and, Treasurer: Roger Barrett - They are organizing their incorporation and establishing boundaries; however, WRWM asked them to temporarily put a hold on this process as we work through the organization of the Regional Service Board for Western. - Expressed an interest in composting, which Jason is working towards with them. - establishing priorities and agenda of activities iii. Corner Brook – WRWM Representatives Donna Luther, Linda Chaisson - Executive includes: Chair: Neville Greeley; Vice-Chair: Maurice Osborne; Secretary: Jason Spingle; and, Treasurer: Leona Gillette - They are organizing their incorporation and establishing boundaries; however, WRWM asked them to put a hold on this process as we work through the organization of the Regional Service Board for Western. iv. Southwest Coast – WRWM Representative Rick Farrell - Executive includes: Chair: Bonnie Muise; Vice-Chair: Ted Wall; and, Secretary/Treasurer: Rick Farrell - November 30, 2011 (has since been adjusted to January 1, 2012) is the target date for consolidation and having the site open. - Upgrading the Grand Bay/Cape Ray waste facility and the ‘garage’. Closing of the incinerator either on, or before, November 30th. Main gate is installed and mobile dumpster placed outside the gate for times the site isn’t open. - Request for acquiring a small compactor truck for collections in Codroy Valley area. Need to convey the truck specs to Municipal Affairs through written correspondence - Want consolidation in their collection and transportation. Funding and timeline could cause problems with this issue. - November 2, 2011 is the next SWC meeting. Current issues will be discussed further at that meeting. v. Bay St. George – WRWM Reps. Cynthia Downey, Geraldine Porter, Eileen Hann - Had resignation of three of the originally elected executive (Peter Fenwick, Vince Parsons & Simeon Lee). These positions have now been filled by elections on Oct. 24 at Kippens which include: Chair: Fintan Alexander; Vice-Chair: Cynthia Downey; Secretary: Rita Legge; and, Treasurer: Barry Noftall (retained his position) - Working with St. Georges Mayor Fintan Alexander and Town Manager Ray Chant on getting ready for a possible November 30th (has since been adjusted to January 1, 2012) opening of the site.

4 - Curbside Collections – Stephenville attempting to do the curbside collections for Bay St. George South and all smaller towns on the Port au Port Peninsula (Cape St. George opted out of this service). The two new trucks can provide the entire region with curbside collection. Hopefully, we can get to that point in the near future with everyone in the region paying the same cost for collection as well. vi. Burgeo, Ramea, Grey River – No representative on WRWM Committee - Burgeo Councillor Barbara Barker was present at tonight’s meeting. - Facing safety issues with their deteriorating incinerator. Need to remove it ASAP. They would likely be included in the Bay St. George Sub-region as establishing a landfill would be too costly for them. The most efficient way for this to function needs to be determined very quickly due to their deteriorating incinerator. - Ramea was unable to send representatives tonight due to weather conditions. Teleconference with Ramea officials scheduled for next week to discuss their issues. - Bae Newplan report on the Burgeo/Ramea/Grey River area should be ready next week for the committees to review. Once the document has been finalized, it will be released for public viewing.

5. Wild Cove Developments Bae NewPlan is currently waiting on a report from Corner Brook City Hall regarding their survey results of the Wild Cove site. Don will contact City Hall in the next few days to determine when those reports should be expected. These reports will aid Bae NewPlan in determining the life remaining at the Wild Cove site and if it could be used as a transfer site. Once these reports are received, Bae NewPlan will need 2-3 weeks to complete their research into the Wild Cove site.

6. Governance Model Sub-committee’s recommendation on Regional Service Board Structure The Governance Sub-Committee was formed at the September 29th WRWM Committee meeting. This sub-committee includes: WRWM Committee Representatives Cynthia Downey and Gary Bishop, WRMW Chair Don Downer and Coordinator Jason King, Municipal Affairs Representative Cory Grandy and Bae NewPlan Representative Wayne Manuel. This group met on October 14th to discuss possible Regional Service Board structures into which the Western Regional Waste Management Committee will evolve. This sub-committee used the criteria of Population, Geography and Operational Similarities in determining their recommended structure which includes 11 Board members plus a Chairperson. Tonight’s meeting prompted much discussion over the suggested structure and the areas which the Board’s members would represent. There was concern expressed that the outlined area the board members represent does not conflict with other items taking place within the area (ie regionalization of other services). The Committee does not want to interfere with other areas of cooperation within the Western Region. Agreement could not be reached on the Regional Service Board structure presented; so, it was requested of Wayne Manuel (Bae NewPlan) to draft 2-3 options for a service board structure based on his research into the transfer station locations in which he is currently involved. Wayne will submit these options to the WRWM office within the next week or two for the sub- committee to meet and discuss. The recommendation from this sub-committee will then be made to the WRWM Committee at the November 24th meeting.

5 There was concern expressed about the purpose of the sub-regional committees once the Regional Service Board is in place. The sub-regional committees will still be needed to deal with their localized issues (ie. collection, etc.). There was a question as to whether or not the Regional Service Board members should also be representatives on the sub-regional committee executives and the committees themselves, but nothing was decided on this issue until the committee can gain agreement on the Regional Service Board structure. A brief discussion was held regarding the nomination process for the Regional Service Board members, but this discussion was placed on hold until the issue of the Regional Service Board structure is resolved. It needs to be stressed that regardless as to where the Regional Service Board members come from, they need to represent their area, not their community.

7. Next Meeting: November 24, 2011 The next meeting of the Western Regional Waste Management Committee will take place on Thursday, November 24, 2011. Venue is yet to be determined. Whether or not to go ahead with a December meeting will be determined at the November meeting.

No further items were brought up for discussion.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm.

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