City told to stop dumping in park

Published: February 12, 2009 6:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star

City of Vernon crews will have to stop dumping snow in BX Ranch Park for the rest of the winter. On Thursday. the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee issued a cease and desist order to the city because of numerous public complaints about road snow being stored in the BX Road park, which is popular with dog owners. “The public perception is the park is for the public and not for industrial stockpiling,” said Mike Macnabb, BX-Silver Star director. “We have to look at this and say, ‘What are we doing?’ Is there a better way of doing this?” While there will be no dumping of snow at the 27-acre park for the remainder of the winter, GVAC will look at the city’s long-term need to store road snow somewhere. “It doesn’t preclude the use of park space, but it’s public park and they need access to it,” said Macnabb, who questions why the city began dumping snow at that site.“I’m not aware of any policy or agreement to allow for the storage of the snow.” GVAC staff indicate that the city has stopped piling snow on the property because there is little room left.

Huge mountains of snow dominate the property, and Macnabb insists that large trucks and tractors put residents at risk. “It’s an industrial area without any controls. People are walking their dogs and there is a liability,” he said. Macnabb is also concerned that the tractors are damaging the park as they push snow around, and that road chemicals in the snow are becoming highly concentrated. “What environmental issues does this create?” he said. Wayne Lippert, Vernon mayor and GVAC chairman, insists that the city has been acting responsibly and that garbage picked up by snow plows is being collected at BX Ranch Park and environmental assessments have been done. But he also says that this winter has been unusual. “With the large amounts of snow (this winter) the problem has been larger than in the past,” he said. GVAC staff will determine how the city was given permission to use the park for snow storage and a report will be presented to directors.