/MH/HE close to landfill agreement 

MH/HE close to landfill agreement 

By Chad Ingram

The Township of Minden Hills and the Municipality of Highlands East aregetting closer to an agreement that will allow Irondale-area residentsto use a waste disposal site in Highlands East once Minden Hills closesthe Irondale landfill which is scheduled to take place in September.

As previously reported last year Minden Hills council made the decisionto close the site as it had a number of issues in recent yearsincluding non-compliance with provincial regulations and residentsdumping garbage along a nearby roadway when the site is closed. It alsohas the lowest traffic volume of any of the township’s landfills.

For years Highlands East residents close to Irondale have been permittedto dispose of their waste at the Minden Hills facility there through anagreement with the Municipality of Highlands East. Now the townshipshave been working on a reciprocal agreement that will allow residents in the eastern portion of Minden Hills to access the Highlands East-ownedGlamorgan transfer station. Garbage will be deposited into a MindenHills bin and when that bin is full Minden Hills will transport thatwaste to its Scotch Line landfill. Recycling scrap metal andelectronics can be disposed of in the recycling.

Minden Hills willpay Highlands East approximately $7500 a year through the agreementroughly the same amount Highlands East has been paying Minden Hills foraccess to the Irondale facility.
Minden Hills staff will draft an agreement to be sent to Highlands East.

The closure of the Irondale landfill has far exceeded its initial budget.While $290000 was originally budgeted for the project and while thetownship awarded the contract to Four Brothers Construction in theamount of approximately $277800 plus HST as a staff report received by council last week indicated the capping of landfill is also requiringsome $260000 (plus HST) worth of clay to be transported to the sitebringing the project’s overall budget to more than $566000.