Thursday 17 November 2011

SCRD meetings for the last two days of the campaign

Today, after the visits to the local stores in the morning, I attended the SCRD Community Services Committee meeting where discussions were held on improvements to the recreation centers and funding for youth activities. Managers then gave presentations on development permits and bylaw infractions.

Friday morning, I will be putting up the last of my political signs and waving to all those going to work in Sechelt or on the way to the ferry. My new signs will ask for your votes for Garry Nohr, who will spend your local residental taxes for local SCRD services.

Friday afternoon,  the SCRD board will be meeting to discuss actions in the watershed.

Although the issue of getting salmon to return to Clowhom Lake is a federal fisheries issue, I will be contacting the federal Fisheries Ministry to ask why the fish ladders where not put in when they built the dam and if there were in fact sockeye in the lake before the dam.

FYI...the following answer was prepared by Dion Whyte, Manager of Sustainable Services, in response to a question raised by a candidate.

Drywall received at landfills is hauled by our contractor (Direct Disposal) to New West Gypsum where it is recycled into new drywall.  It is a highly recyclable product and all gypsum as well as the paper backing the board is used in the recycling process.

Tipping fees for drywall are currently $265 per tonne.  Any contaminated loads received at landfills (of any controlled waste, not just drywall) are charged at twice the regular tipping fee + $100 per hour to cover the cost of equipment and staff time to sort and properly handle the load.   The regular tipping fee covers all costs associated with rental of the bins, hauling of the material, and the tipping fee charged at New West Gypsum.

Bins are not covered.  This is fairly standard practice at most facilities.  Solid Waste has, in the past, tried a few alternatives for covering the bins.  Here are the challenges:

1) Putting a shed style roof over the bins is problematic, mainly because many of our customers arrive with large trucks or trailers that dump (hydraulic dumping mechanisms) into the bins.  Any overhead structure would be in the way and likely to get damaged or pose a safety hazard. 
2) SCRD has in the past tried different means of covering bins including tarping, putting fitted lids onto the bins and using covered bins with a trap door in the top.  Taking these on and off in between customer visits was very labour intensive and also presented Worksafe hazards (working and reaching out over a falling hazard).  I also understand customers complained bitterly about this as it further increased wait times to drop off gypsum at the sites.  The practice was discontinued for these reasons.
3) SCRD's base winter schedule (when we have all the rain) provides for one single waste monitor at the Sechelt Landfill and only a Scale Attendant at the Pender Landfill.  In the case of Pender it is not logistically possible for staff to cover/uncover bins between customer visits (safety issues aside), and at Sechelt Landfill this would impair the waste monitor's ability to perform other tasks.  Also, a single person trying to lift or drag a cover onto a large roll-off bin is not safe.

We have discussed options for covering bins at the end of the work day (once per day) and uncovering before the site opens (once per day), however we would need to revise our staffing schedule to provide two people on site before and after hours and allow a bit more time for opening/closing procedures (currently the staffing is staggered and there is usually only one staff person on site at these times).


Anecdotally, we track the tonnages of drywall leaving our landfills and the tonnage arriving at New West Gypsum.  Sometimes our inbound weights at landfills are lower than the inbound weights at New West Gypsum, suggesting there is water contributing to the added weight.  However, sometimes our inbound weights are actually higher than those at New West suggesting the stuff has lost mass (water?) along the way.  We've tried to analyze the "cost" of water added to the drywall but there appears to be no consistent trend here.

FYI - WCB has ordered New West Gypsum to implement a new Asbestos Control Program.  SCRD and other local governments are developing plans to screen out potential asbestos containing loads at our sites.  More information will come to ISC when we have something to report, but we expect this will have a significant impact on the way we collect drywall at our facilities and on the way builders and homeowners are required to conduct their demolition projects.


Costs:  Our contractor receives $722 per bin hauled from Sechelt Landfill and $896 per bin hauled from Pender Harbour Landfill (these costs include bin rental). Bins hold 7-9 tonnes of drywall when full so rough cost per tonne for hauling is $100.  New West Gypsum currently charges $85 per tonne plus additional charges for any contaminants (e.g. if garbage gets into the bin) which occurs on occasion.  Total cost per tonne (without including costs of staffing, overhead, equipment, etc) is $185 per tonne.  Our charges are higher than this to ensure full cost recovery and any overages charged by New West Gypsum.

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