By Rosalind Russell – Espanola council has turned down a contract with the local landfill operator for a second time.
Council held a lengthy discussion about a proposed ten-year contract, which would have seen ratepayers reducing their garbage bags from four a week to two within a year and the continued use of black bags rather than clear ones.
A contentious issue over the last year, this was the second time staff had gone back to negotiate a deal with Dodge Haulage, the owner of the landfill.
The sticking point is the lack of action by the provincial government regarding having producers legislated to carry the costs of the packaging and recycling their products generate.
Councillor Ken Duplessis suggested a one-year contract be put in place to allow time to see what the upper levels of government would mandate.
He suggested the contract be revamped to one year, which would also provide education to the public and the new council can make the decision.
In the end though, council decided not to defer the discussion, but instead defeated the motion with a tie vote. That means staff will now consider the councils’ concerns and go back to the negotiating table with the landfill operator.
Photo: It is back to the drawing board for the Town of Espanola in finalizing a contract with Dodge Haulage for landfill access. The Town has been without a contract since December, and it was hoped to finalize the contract this week, but some councillors had several sticking points and refused to budge from their positions. The resulting vote, a tie, defeated the motion to accept a ten-year contract. Voting the contract down were councillors, Ron Duplessis, Ken Duplessis and Ray Dufour, and supported by Heather Mallotte, Sandra Hayden and Mayor Jill Beer. Bill Foster was absent, so there was no way to break the tie, resulting in the defeat of the motion. Photo – unsplash.com
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