Springwater council passes composting site motion that Allen was not allowed to present to county council
Deputy Mayor Don Allen
UPDATED – with county council vote
By Kate Harries AWARE News Network
Yesterday, Deputy Mayor Don Allen presented his case to township council for a more careful analysis of the organics processing / materials handling facility that is proposed for a site in Springwater. His fellow councillors voted unanimously in favour of a motion to ask the County of Simcoe to conduct a comprehensive business case before proceeding any further with the project.
Allen, who ran for council in part on the basis of his financial background, told his fellow councillors and about 50 Springwater residents who attended the meeting, that a reputable financial firm should be retained to work with the county’s engineering consultants Conestoga Rovers (now GHD) to work on a business case and risk assessment.
He added: “We have heard from the Warden (Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall) that we can’t get costs until we select technology and that we can’t have an RFP until we select a site. To me this is the wrong order of events and not what other proven projects have done.”
The extra step would add six months to the process but could save the county a lot of grief and millions of dollars, Allen said, detailing extensive research he has done into similar projects, particularly one in Surrey, B.C.
He quoted the manager in charge of the Surrey project as saying “Using only one of these professional disciplines, engineering or a financial firm to complete your business case, is a risky proposition – you need to have both the financial and engineering experts on your business case team – they work hand-in-hand.”
While Springwater is the location of the consultants’ preferred site, it is Simcoe County Council’s project and that is the logical body to consider Allen’s motion.
Unfortunately, at last Thursday’s committee of the whole meeting, even though a majority of county councillors voted to allow Allen – who as deputy mayor is a member of county council – to bring his motion forward, he fell short procedurally.
“I tried to present a motion along these lines at County Council last week after being assured that it would require a 50% vote to pass,” Allen told yesterday’s township council meeting.
“Just before presenting, the Warden determined that the motion constituted a reconsideration of Council’s previous decision and therefore required two thirds approval to speak to the motion,” Allen said.
Rather than a simple head count of the 32 mayors and deputy mayors, the count was of a “weighted” vote, based on the population of each municipality. The motion passed 64 for and 39 against, five votes short of the two thirds required. “So the County did not hear my position and my motion.”
Allen noted that that county has so far spent $228,000 on a consultant to determine a site, to be followed by more studies to determine the technology, then a Request For Proposals and a procurement, “and then, three years after the process started, do a business case to see if it is workable or not and how much it will cost. To me this is the wrong process and order of events.”
Allen also expressed misgivings about the financial projections the county is working on. “We are talking here of $3.5 million to $5 million for an MMF and $10 million to $35 million for an OPF facility,” he said. “My estimate is that both together will cost no less than $50M to finalize to the first phase and that will not involve being able to handle pet waste or diapers – that will come later at greater expense.
“This is taxpayer money which will require debt to finance, I presume , which will need to be repaid and serviced in the interim by taxpayer dollars. The County has estimated that the MMF will save $13M over the next 20 years and have a 6 year payback. I believe that more in depth analysis of the costs needs to occur before making that claim.”
Allen did stress that he feels that Simcoe should be implementing changes its waste management practices now to do more to encourage reduced garbage generation and increased diversion in blue boxes and especially organics waste (green bins).
“Our results show we are going in the wrong direction, with declining diversion rates in this area,” he said after the meeting. “We need to change our attitude and practices regarding this now before we consider spending millions on an OPF facility. Building an OPF in Simcoe in the next 3-4 years won’t necessarily increase our diversion – changing our culture toward this starting now will. Other similar project areas have had this aspect working well before they ventured into building expensive plants.”
The matter is on the County Council agenda for next Tuesday, March 8. The meeting starts at 9 am and is open to the public.
Full text of Allen’s presentation
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