Texada Island residents have expressed in numbers their support for maintaining the island’s metal transfer station.
At the June 4 special qathet Regional District committee of the whole meeting, directors heard three delegations and had more than 70 pieces of correspondence about changes to the regional district’s solid waste bylaw that would restrict salvage and reuse of materials.
The first delegation was from Tom Read, a resident of Texada, who said he wanted an exemption for residents on salvage and reuse. In correspondence to the regional district, Read stated that the regulation prohibiting salvage and reuse of materials should not apply to the Texada metal transfer station (Lot 6). Material deposited at Lot 6 comes from Texada residents and is of great benefit to Texadans who salvage and reuse that material, stated Read.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” he added. “There are many examples of how Texadans have collectively saved thousands of dollars each year by reusing materials that other Texadans discarded at Lot 6.”
Read said at the committee meeting that the Texada official community plan (OCP) promotes reuse.
“I see a contrast between the word promote in our OCP and the word prohibit in the proposed bylaw,” said Read.
He said the proposed bylaw states that no person shall scavenge or remove material deposited at solid waste management facilities unless approved by the supervisor or manager.
“There seems to be quite a disparity between what we call Lot 6 and how that is set up and operates, and what is being proposed in this bylaw,” said Read. “That’s a significant issue that needs to be fixed. We have been doing this for 40 years on Texada and there is no need to revise this. It works great and people love it. Please work an exemption into your language in the bylaw.”
Next up was Seneca Antony, who said her household uses Lot 6 extensively.
“It is such a resource for many people,” said Antony. “A solid waste ban is going to be counterproductive.”
Colleen Mudry was the third delegation and said she had used Lot 6 broadly.
“We use it for gardening and for renovations we’ve done,” said Mudry. “When my neighbour takes metal to Lot 6 and drops it off, and I go later and find a piece of metal, they have shared that with me. I do the same when I dump metal that I don’t need any more.
“It’s an amazing community resource. We could not have done the renovations without being able to go to Lot 6.
After extensive discussion, the committee carried a motion that recommended that the regional board directs staff to prepare a brief report about the legality or possibilities of creating a separate service for the Texada metal transfer station.
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