Fears of losing one of two Texada Island recycling depots have subsided after Powell River Regional District (PRRD) staff offered a solution that would continue to meet the needs of the community.
Island residents gathered at Texada Community Hall in Gillies Bay on Thursday, February 4, to discuss solutions to a problem that could have led to the closure of one depot.
According to Sandy McCormick, Electoral Area D director, an option was presented to the nearly 40 residents at the meeting that would see the current Van Anda recycling centre converted to a satellite depot instead of an official one.
McCormick said the major changes residents would see to their recycling service would be the relocation of the current depot to the ball field in Van Anda, which is regional district property, and the possible reduction in hours at the Van Anda location.
“Van Anda is the smaller of the two depots on Texada in terms of the amount collected,” said McCormick. “It is also on a location we have to pay rent for. On the other hand, in Gillies Bay the recycling depot is behind the community hall, on property that is already owned by the regional district.”
The two existing recycling depots are part of a continued effort to improve neighbourhood recycling, an action item on PRRD’s 2015-2018 Strategic Plan under climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Prior to the launch of the Multi-Material BC (MMBC) program in May 2014, the regional district had green bins for collecting rural recycling at locations throughout Powell River and Texada Island.
The recycling bins were unsupervised and, according to bin-maintenance company Sunshine Disposal, they would often be filled with non-recyclable materials.
Mike Wall, regional district manager of community services, presented the proposed solution to Texada residents after gathering input on whether or not to reduce services down to one depot, and if one depot was to be pursued, which location would best suit the needs of the community.
Wall said the regional district received a letter from MMBC stating it had “determined that two separate depot locations on Texada Island is not consistent with the level of service provided elsewhere in BC and particularly on other island communities.”
Because of concerns around the carbon footprint created by driving to a single recycling depot, McCormick said the consensus was in favour of two depots, but Wall asked how the community would suggest the recycling depot be paid for, either regionally or locally.
“Texada residents at the meeting were passionate about retaining service in Van Anda and Gillies Bay, citing convenience will create continued, successful recycling program participation,” said Wall.
Wall said the meeting provided regional district staff with the community’s vision moving forward.
“It is now the regional district management’s task to try to create a win for all stakeholders,” said Wall, “including the Texada community, MMBC and the Powell River Regional District’s board, with regards to responsible budgeting and equality in service delivery.”
