News clips: Approval for organics processing facility site

County committee approves preferred location for organics processing facility in Springwater Township

By Andrew Philips Barrie Examiner
MIDHURST – After some contentious back-and-forth, county council voted Tuesday to keep moving forward on a proposed organics-processing and material-management facility in Springwater Township.

A majority of the county’s committee of the whole opted to pursue additional engineering studies and an environmental-impact statement on the Horseshoe Valley Road site to arrive at a comprehensive business analysis.

As well, the county will begin consulting with landowners located within half a kilometre of the site while also hosting public information sessions next month.

But while the council vote still requires official ratification at the next meeting in two weeks, Warden Gerry Marshall said it’s important to keep moving the process along.

“There are no businesses or homes within 500 metres of the facility,” said Marshall, who noted he attended all 10 previous public meetings leading up to the preferred site selection and that “trees, traffic and odour” were consistently brought forward as the main concerns.

“This will be a state-of-the-art facility, so there will be no odour,” Marshall said, noting the county will plant 10 trees for each one it fells.

Rob McCullough, the county’s solid-waste-management director, said the chosen site could also accommodate a truck-servicing facility and potential public education space for “school groups and church groups,” a notion that led to heckling by some spectators in the gallery.

“There’s a lot more engineering and environmental work to do,” he said, adding the transportation impact on roads surrounding the site must also be studied.

McCullough said the further studies will give staff the information it needs to return to council with hard numbers for the site, which now range from $10 million to $35 million.

Currently, there are 20 organics-processing facilities in the province of varying sizes and capacities representing both public and private interests.

Springwater Deputy Mayor Don Allen tried to get Tuesday’s decision deferred until council has a firm business case for the site.

“Now is the time to see the facts in a real picture,” he said, adding it’s also important to learn whether Orillia and Barrie plan to use the facility.

“We have had preliminary talks with Orillia and Barrie,” he said. “They’re not interested in building (it with us) but could be a potential customer.”

But Bradford West Gwillimbury Deputy Mayor James Leduc said the business case needs to be completed before the county throws more money at the project, which has so far cost the county about $240,000, with a further $60,000 budgeted for the current year.

Springwater Mayor Bill French said creating the site also seems to go against the region’s rich forestry heritage.

“Clear-cutting a few hectares hurts our natural capital,” he said, imploring council to further study the idea of working with one of the other 20 provincial facilities before building a standalone site. “We could end up with a white elephant.”

But Debbie Korolnek, the county’s engineering, planning and environment general manager, said only 11 acres of the county-owned site’s 208 forested acres will need to be cut.

“The county has done a good job with forestry stewardship,” she said, adding the county operates about 32,000 acres of protected forest throughout the region.

Ramara Township Mayor Basil Clarke said it’s time to move things along.

“We’re stalled right now,” he said. “We can’t do the business case until we know what the cost is going to be. We have to make that plunge.”

Prior to council’s discussion, a consultant who has worked on the plan provided an overview of the process to date.

“This has been a long process, started more than a year ago,” said Ted Gidda, vice-president of GHD Canada, which provides engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services to private- and public-sector clients.

Gidda said the comprehensive process to find the perfect Simcoe County site whittled an initial 502 possibilities by eliminating areas through a range of factors such as if it was on a provincially significant wetland or had a larger number of neighbours.

From the original grouping, consultants eventually chopped the list to 50, then to seven — five of which were suitable for both initiatives — before arriving at the Springwater option.

County going ahead with organics facility site work despite opposition

Concerned residents can’t convince council to halt process to build organics processing plant in Springwater Township

By Laurie Watt Barrie Today

Despite a full gallery of citizens attempting to stop its plans for an organics facility and transfer station, Simcoe County councillors voted overwhelmingly to stay on the path first laid out in the county’s waste management strategy in 2010.

Springwater Mayor Bill French and Deputy Mayor Don Allen, who rounded up residents opposing the plan to use a county forest site at 2976 Horseshoe Valley Road in Springwater, failed to convince their council colleagues, who met in committee of the whole Tuesday to discuss the recommendation released last week.

“We need to know what these facilities would cost and what the impact would be on Springwater. We can’t go on without knowing the costs. We need to address now the decline of diversion trends in Simcoe County so we can make sure there will be sufficient (input),” said Allen.

But county staff said the green-bin tonnage remains relatively consistent between 10,000 and 11,000 tonnes per year, although it’s not increasing as the number of new households grows. A garbage audit revealed a lot of organics was being thrown into the regular waste stream, which goes to landfill.

French attempted to cite the county’s natural heritage policies and the history of the site as reasons not to proceed, but those two were shot down.

“This is a county forest property purchased in the early 1940s. The county has more than 32,000 acres (of county forest). This is a 208-acre site and we need 11 acres of it,” said Debbie Korolnek, the engineering, planning and environment general manager.

Because of the site’s size, the facility will be able to be buffered and the nearest neighbours will be at least half a kilometre away.

Korolnek added the county also will replace not only the number of trees removed for the project, but boost the tree count by two to three times.

Further, she noted, the site requires zoning, Official Plan and site plan approvals, processes that require environmental impact examination and analysis.

“We’re absolutely committed to working with the local municipality to work through those concerns,” she said.

She also noted that knowing the site helps determine what technology will be used to process the organics, which also affects the final cost and business case.

Without knowing the site and its implications, getting an accurate business case and serious responses to an RFP are extremely difficult, she added.

Springwater officials repeatedly cited Surrey, British Columbia’s facility as an example to follow.

Korolnek pointed out Surrey had a site, which impacted technology.

“York Region has gone out three times for this type of facility without (knowing) a site. Because there isn’t a site, there’s too much risk and costs were astronomical. They cancelled all three (times). Now they don’t get the legitimate bidders,” she said, adding serious contenders can invest $500,000 in creating a viable bid.

“We want to do it this way because there is more certainty in the business case.”

The decision is still subject to council approval March 22. A meeting with neighbouring landowners is scheduled for March 23.

News release from Simcoe County

Committee of the Whole endorses preferred location and passes motion for Council’s approval

During its meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, County of Simcoe Committee of the Whole endorsed a motion to move forward with the single location for the proposed Organics Processing Facility (OPF) and Materials Management Facility (MMF) at 2976 Horseshoe Valley Road West, Springwater.

Committee of the Whole’s recommendation will be considered by County Council on March 22, 2016. Following further direction, staff will proceed with this open process, which will include scoped engineering and environmental studies on the preferred location beginning later this spring. The County will host two public information sessions on April 19 at the Simcoe County Museum at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. The procurement process and Request for Proposal (RFP) for technology is anticipated to be released in fall 2016. The opportunity for County Council to provide full approvals for development of this facility is scheduled to occur in 2017 with results of the RFP and an accurate business case.

“It is clear that our consultants have done an extremely thorough job in their evaluation and comprehensive siting process,” said Warden Gerry Marshall. “We will continue to listen to neighbours of the preferred location, our partners at Springwater Township, as well as all our 465,000 residents across the region. As a Council, we will do the right thing by making a responsible economic and environmental decision while ultimately improving our services for future generations.”

The Preferred Location and Process

2976 Horseshoe Valley Road West, Springwater, ranked first for all three options – an OPF, MMF and a co-located facility. Industry-leading consultants evaluated 502 locations in three screening phases. Although not required for these projects, Environmental Assessment methodology and criteria was applied to the siting evaluation. Extensive public, Aboriginal and stakeholder consultation supported the evaluation process.

Primary Advantages of the Preferred Location

Provides transportation efficiencies
Significant usable space
Has good separation distances from nearby houses
Scored high among all environmental criteria used to evaluate the 502 sites
Provides cost savings and economic benefits

Additional Information
Details about the proposed facilities including siting methodology, anticipated costs, completed meetings and reports, and a detailed FAQ can be found at www.simcoe.ca/opf and www.simcoe.ca/mmf. The agenda and staff report can be found at www.simcoe.ca/dpt/clk/amr.

Q&A
Has the County determined costs? What are the next steps in the process?

MMF A business case for the MMF was approved by County Council in 2014
it is estimated that the capital cost of the MMF will be $4.7 million – this considers $1.15 million in significant funding that has been secured from the Continuous Improvement Fund
the MMF would save an estimated $13 million in contracted transfer costs over the next 20 years with a calculated payback of six years
OPF A Viability Assessment Report was completed in 2012 and concluded that an OPF was viable
OPF costs could range from $10 to $35 million or higher, dependent on technology
accurate costing for the OPF will occur following siting and the procurement process to select OPF technology starting in spring 2016
location-specific information combined with input from the public and neighbouring landowners will be important in determining technology

What environmental work has been done to date? What assessments/studies are still to be completed?

the County followed Environmental Assessment methodology to select the preferred location
evaluation considered groundwater and surface water conditions, Prime Agricultural Lands, soil conditions (among many other criteria)
held initial consultation with the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority, Severn Sound Environmental Association and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
further environmental studies, such as a scoped Environmental Impact Statement, are required and will be undertaken on the preferred location

What analysis of traffic has been done to date? What studies are still to be completed?

additional vehicles (trucks, staff cars) to OPF/MMF location at 30-year capacity maximum is 420/day (includes both in and out movements), which is an estimated 6% increase on current traffic volumes over 30 years
Current two-way traffic count for Horseshoe Valley Road (County Road 22) is 6,700 vehicles/day
a Traffic Impact Study will be undertaken, which will identify needed road improvement requirements (i.e., turning and acceleration lanes)

Is the County considering odours, noise and visual impacts of the potential facility? What steps will be taken to mitigate?

location is large and offers good buffer distances from surrounding homes to mitigate odour and noise; design and technology will also incorporate odour and noise control measures
proposed facility must fully comply with the Ontario Environmental Protection Act, which regulates odour emissions
footprint of the facility will only occupy approximately 5% of this location; existing trees combined with placement of the facility will provide visual screening