On June 27 a public meeting was held at the Community Centre to inform Puslinch residents about the County's plans for the Puslinch landfill site and to provide an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions on these changes. The meeting was well attended.

The Waste Management Committee explained the rationale of the waste management system. The goals of the system are to:
Respect the environment
Prevent degrading of the existing environment
Fiscal responsibility
Consistent level of service

The plan is to have a county wide user pay system in which Puslinch residents would have to pay $1.00 per bag of garbage taken to the landfill site. Private contractors that pick up garbage will pass this cost on to their customers.

They are also proposing to rename the Puslinch landfill site "The Aberfoyle landfill site". Also, the committee could not guarantee that garbage from other communities would not be brought to the Puslinch landfill.

There were many questions and opinions voiced by the attendees. The majority of people were against the proposed changes to the existing system. Many felt that Puslinch residents are already paying for the landfill site through our property taxes. Why should we pay a per bag fee and are our taxes going to be rebated?

The Committee responded that a pay per bag system would encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle. However, as several residents pointed out, we are already composting and recycling as much as we can. So unless there are changes made to the recycling program, we are unable to reduce our garbage output. Property taxes will not be rebated, the $1.00 per bag is to supplement the property taxes.

The audience also wanted to know how much extra revenue this system would generate and what the breakdown was of the $1.00/bag. The committee was unable to answer these questions.

The committee could not give us the life expectancy of the landfill site nor what they planned to do when it was filled.

There was also much concern about environmental issues. The County is following the guidelines for waste management. The Puslinch landfill site is relatively healthy but they will be doing more investigation, testing and monitoring.

Concerns were also made regarding the dumping of garbage at the side of our country roads. The committee did not feel that the user pay system would encourage this.

There were many other concerns and issues; however, in summary there is not much change except that effective September 10, Puslinchers will have the privilege of paying $1.00 for every bag of household garbage that they take to the landfill site. None of the residents voiced an opinion in favor of being charged. One resident speculated that the charge for dumping might just be the thin edge of the wedge and that next we might be charged for road plowing.

You can read more about the landfill site.

You can also get more background form this Guelph Mercury article.