Tessa Swanton (Townson),
Bruce Peninsula Press
The creation of two permanent full-time waste management operator positions and purchase of a $318,000 plus tax garbage truck were approved by Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula (MNBP) Council at the July 27 Council Meeting. The decisions were prompted by a July 13 resolution where Council directed staff to proceed with “inhouse curbside collection.”
A staff report from Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Peggy Van Mierlo-West, explained that the Municipality is continually trying to improve waste management services for residents.
A draft waste management operator job description was attached stating that the position will operate garbage trucks, complete collection routes, conduct vehicle inspections, maintain records, and “provide courteous service to residents and customers.” Qualifications include a secondary school diploma or equivalent, previous experience operating commercial vehicles or similar, and a Class DZ driver’s licence. The job comes with several strenuous physical requirements and working conditions like exposure to adverse weather and difficult terrain, flexible shifts, continuous lifting of heavy objects, and repetitive movements around vibration and noise. The wage rate will be reviewed with the union through the collective agreement process.
Councillor Laurie (Smokey) Golden questioned the hiring of two new operators. The CAO clarified that Council establishes a level of service for municipal operations at the beginning of each term and if they wanted to facilitate inhouse collection without additional staff, then “Council would have to advise of which level of service that we would be required to cut.”
The CAO noted that collection will likely span across the week unlike designated Mondays with Waste Management, who “bring up seven to eight trucks on a Monday to actually do all of our collection…that will be impossible for us to complete [inhouse].” A casual part time staffer will be considered to cover sick days as two staff are needed to operate the garbage truck. Current Public Works staff can be moved to waste collection but that will result in a service level reduction in another area, she explained.
Council approved the purchase of a 2025 Freightliner Labrie Leach 2R-111 Rear Loading Refuse Truck mounted on a M2106 chassis. The $318,000 truck will be purchased from Joe Johnson Equipment and funded through municipal reserves. A report from Pubic Works Manager, Troy Cameron, stated that “Staff believe that acquiring a new garbage truck is the most effective option to support municipal waste collection operations, which are scheduled to commence later this fall.”
Project Update for Tobermory and Lion’s Head Water and Wastewater Master Plans
Chris Wilson with WSP attended the July 27 Council Meeting with a project update regarding the Water and Wastewater Master Plans for the villages of Tobermory and Lion’s Head. The plans identify a preferred solution for expanding water and wastewater (WW) services to the downtown core and community area in Tobermory. A preferred solution for Lion’s Head includes expanding water to service new growth and provide sufficient volume for fire flow while constructing a new WW treatment facility to provide services downtown.
The project is in the second phase of a five-phase process, culminating in construction and operation. The report indicates that preferred solutions will meet the village’s current and future growth up until 2051 and should be constructed in a phased approach to reduce impacts to services, properties with existing wells and septic systems, and the community in general.
Councillor Laurie (Smokey) Golden said, “The key to any of this is predicting where development is going to go in any of these communities.”
Tobermory: A map for Tobermory showed two potential locations for a new centralized water treatment plant with adequate water storage to provide for fire flow capacity, one near Hay Bay Road and another near Nicholas Street. Two infrastructure options were revealed.
Option 1, retrofit existing Little Tub Water Treatment Plant to convert to a low lift pumping station with potential for larger water intake and build a new water treatment plant with increased capacity and fire flow for $68 million.
Option 2, decommission of the existing Little Tub Water Treatment plant and construction of a new low lift pumping station on a new property with a new raw water intake and water treatment plant totaling $81.75 million.
Both options offer around 7km of new distribution watermain, 70 fire hydrants, new service connections, new water storage of 2,552m3, and decommissioning of existing wells.
To expand WW in Tobermory, two options were listed.
Option 1 showed an expansion of the existing WW treatment plant with increased capacity for $44 million.
Option 2 costs $57.25 million to decommission the existing WW treatment and construct a new plant nearby with increased capacity. Both options include new/updated existing sewage pumping stations and forcemains, approximately 4km of new gravity sewers, 60 new fire manholes, new sanitary service connections, and decommissioning of existing septic systems.
Lion’s Head: Infrastructure for Lion’s Head water suggested upgrading the existing water treatment plant and low lift pumping with increased capacity and fire flow, approximately 2km of new distribution watermain, 20 fire hydrants, new water service connections, and decommissioning of existing wells.
Option 1 shows a new water storage of 3,683 m3 on the same property as the existing water treatment plant totaling $32.1 million.
Option 2 depicts new water storage on a separate property for $36.35 million.
Lion’s Head WW options plan for a new WW collection, pumping systems and WW treatment plant, 8km of new gravity sewers, 80 new fire manholes, new sanitary service connections, and decommissioning of existing septic systems.
Option 1 shows a new WW plant in Lion’s Head on Bannister’s Hill for $66.15 million.
Option 2 involves pumping sanitary to a plant outside of Lion’s Head to a larger property in Ferndale, costing $60.75 million.
Wilson explained the necessity of conducting environmental assessments (EAs), only one is required per project and covers various sites. “You have to get into more detailed EAs to come up with your best solution,” he said. Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson commented, “So you could spend a lot of money and not be able to afford the capital project.” Wilson recommended staff investigate funding options as 33% grant funding is usually expected for similar projects.
To read the full reports visit https://northernbrucepeninsula.civicweb.net and click the July 27 Council Meeting on the calendar.
