James trash-talks West Kelowna

Ron Seymour 2010-03-02 Kelowna Daily Courier:
Westsiders who haul their own trash are getting an sweet-smelling deal from the City of Kelowna, Coun. Graeme James says. He was one of two councillors who objected to a city plan to charge a reduced rate for garbage brought to Glenmore landfill from the District of West Kelowna‘s transfer station. “I don‘t see why City of Kelowna taxpayers should be subsidizing anyone. And that‘s what we‘re doing here,” James said. “Everyone should pay the same rate,” he said. “In fact, if it was up to me, I‘d make people from outside Kelowna pay more.”

But council voted 6-2 to adopt a staff recommendation to charge the District of West Kelowna $29 a tonne, rather than $55 a tonne, for trash that‘s brought by individuals to the Westside landfill, then trucked to the Glenmore dump. “I think this kind of blended rate is a good way of helping out our neighbors,” said Coun. Robert Hobson. The Westside landfill will close this year, and all the garbage from the west side of the lake will be shipped to Kelowna‘s landfill. Trash picked up through regular weekly collection programs – which accounts for the vast majority of refuse – will be billed at the regular rate of $55 a tonne, the same charge paid by the District of Lake Country and Peachland, which also use the Kelowna dump. But West Kelowna will operate a transfer station, where residents can individually drop off excess garbage after paying a fee. If Kelowna were to charge $55 a tonne for trash that comes from that site, the reasoning goes, the District of West Kelowna would have to charge users an even higher fee to pay for the costs of running the transfer station.

The higher fee, it‘s believed, would encourage illegal dumping. Or, faced with paying a higher fee at the Westside transfer station, some Westsiders might choose to drive directly to the Glenmore dump, thereby putting extra traffic on Kelowna roads. Along with Hobson, councillors Luke Stack, Angela Reid, Andre Blanleil, and Kevin Craig, and acting Mayor Charlie Hodge, accepted the lower rate as a reasonable compromise. Michele Rule joined James in voting against the idea. When it was mentioned that, as a new municipality, West Kelowna faces some cost pressures, James said, “I know they‘re in a difficult situation in West Kelowna, but that‘s their problem.”