Community meeting planned about compost site

Region of Peel staff and residents in the vicinity of the Chinguacousy compost site on King Street will have the opportunity to discuss the site's odour issues at a town hall-style meeting this week.

Organized by Ward 2 Regional Councillor Allan Thompson, this is an important community meeting.

"At the regional level staff and I have been trying to keep residents up to date with what actions the Region has been taking to fix the problems, but the time has come when I think everyone needs to sit down together to hear both sides of the story," he said.

Odour from the site has been an ongoing problem for the last few months and Thompson said he understands the residents' concerns and hears the frustration, but that he and regional staff have been working to remedy the problem. A number of letters have gone out to residents in the last six weeks to keep them up to date on what actions the Region of Peel has taken to try to resolve the problem, but because the odour issues haven't yet improved, it is important that staff and residents have the opportunity to share open discussion together.

Thompson added a number of problems have already been identified at the site and as each of them have been brought forward, actions have been taken to remedy them. Has also had conversations with Janette Smith, the region's public health commissioner, and was told staff have gone out to visit in the homes of residents who expressed health concerns.

Despite these efforts, the situation remains unresolved and last week four area residents delegated Caledon council to raise their concerns. Thompson said because the issue is a regional matter, the concerns need to be raised before Peel Region council and he has instructed the residents to do that and has advised regional staff to expect the delegation at the next regional council meeting.

Because the issue remains ongoing, many residents are calling and telling Thompson they are feeling frustrated because they don't think the Region is taking the resident concerns seriously. But Thompson says that isn't true.

"Have we been working on it? Absolutely. Have we solved the problem yet? Not yet. But I'm committed to moving this file forward and to working with staff to make sure it is resolved."

The councillor admitted he's taking quite a bit of heat from the residents but said as the elected regional representative working between the residents and the Region, he knows that is his place and he isn't afraid to tackle it. A couple of weeks ago a delegation of Region of Peel staff and some councillors went on a week-long study tour of other waste management facilities and he said that when a letter went out to residents immediately before his departure there was discussions about who residents should contact while he was gone.

"I kept my name on the letter as a contact person so that concerns would still flow through my homeoffice and I could remain in the loop while I was away. I'm not looking to dodge this thing in any way," he stressed.

The meeting is being held this Wednesday, June 27 at Mayfield United Church, 12496 Dixie Road, Caledon (north of Mayfield Road) at 7 p.m.

Peel chair Emil Kolb, Andy Pollock, director of waste management and Mitch Zamojc, public works commissioner, have all confirmed they will be in attendance at the community meeting.

Residents with any questions are invited to call Thompson at 905-873-6811 or by e-mail at allan.thompson@caledon.ca.