Minden Hills residents are getting an organics program in 2026 after three councillors voted in favour of the initiative
during what mayor Bob Carter termed an “historic meeting” Jan. 29.
Carter has championed the program since working with staff to strike a first draft of the mayor’s budget under the Strong Mayors Act. He was backed by deputy mayor Lisa Schell and coun. Pam Sayne in getting it approved.
Votes to override mayoral vetoes required a two-thirds, or 5-2, majority to pass. Councillors Tammy McKelvey, Ivan Ingram, Shirley Johannessen, and Bob Sisson voted against, but their four ‘nays’ fell one short of killing the enterprise.
Manager of waste facilities, Chelsea Cosh, told council during January budget talks the program would help save space at the
Scotch Line landfill. She said studies had shown 30-40 per cent of household waste is comprised of organic material.
“Having a program would allow us to divert that material from the landfill and make use of a successful organics program.”
She said it would require three waste containers, known as Moloks. During last week’s meeting, Carter reiterated he thought the program was sound from an environmental and fiscal perspective. He said it was important to divert material from the landfill to lengthen its lifespan. He added that, at $39,000, it was a lot cheaper than having to one day haul material out of the municipality if the landfill is full.
McKelvey agreed it was a good project. However, she wanted to hold off at least a year since there is already a “massive project” – more than $1 million for a transfer station – underway at Scotch Line. Sayne argued if they put it off, the cost would only rise.
Cosh said details would be worked out now that the program is approved.A majority of councillors, however, weresuccessful in overriding Carter’s decision to remove $50,000 from the budget to dosomething with the old fire hall downtown.
The override vote was 5-2 (Sayne voted with Carter). Carter argued there was a larger discussion underway with downtown businesses about what to do with the area around the old fire hall and he thought it prudent to await the findings of that rather than proceeding on a
piecemeal basis. He said for now, all they had was an “ill-defined proposal” for the old fire hall.
Coun. Ivan Ingram argued that councillors had been hearing about the need to do something with the old fire hall for years, and it was a deteriorating eyesore.
The other successful council overrides were around the source of funding for a road sidewalk and crosswalk project; and that the faulty riverwalk lighting be dismantled with a revised scope for replacement.
Carter’s other vetoes passed. They included: a pickup truck for the public works department, a roads labourer, and a bulldozer for the landfill, in addition to the organics program.
With Carter and Sayne in alignment on the majority of votes, and McKelvey, Ingram, Johannessen and Sisson forming a tight pact of four, the majority of swing votes fell to deputy mayor Lisa Schell. Council overrides this time around required a 5-2 vote, while at the last round it was 4-3.
Schell said during the meeting, “it’s no secret I’m in opposition to the Strong Mayors powers so I feel like it puts me in a predicament because in order to have the majority of council actually have the voice and the vote for their community, I have to vote against something I formerly supported. However, at the end of the day, I still truly believe that the majority of council should be the people making the
decisions – before the Strong Mayors Act was established, we wouldn’t even be sitting here today.”
The tax rate increase is 5.13 per cent, or a $23.99 hike per $100,000 of residential assessment
