When Minden Hills council declared war on the Scotch Line landfill seagulls last year, they threw more than $30,000 at the problem.

While staff say the township has seen “a significant decrease” in the Ring Billed Gull population, that isn’t the experience of the Mountain Lake Property Owners Association.

Spokeswoman Kym Hanson said there’s been an “improvement” but not as much as she would have hoped.

“Up until July 1, there were barely any seagulls on the lake, but as soon as the population increased with cottagers it seemed the landfill couldn’t keep up and more gulls started appearing at the landfill and lake,” she told The Highlander. “There are still, on some days, 300-plus seagulls on the lake. The seagulls … seem very much related to the landfill operations. I appreciate the changes they have done but I still don’t think it’s acceptable that we still have so many gulls on the lake.”

She said she was planning to make a delegation to council later this month “to see if there are any further changes they can make at the landfill.”

Minden Hills director of public works Travis Wilson presented a report on the issue to council Aug. 29, in which he said it does not appear the problem is related to seagulls at the landfill.

On Sept. 13, 2018, council single sourced Rentokil Steritech to do seagull mitigation at Scotch Line and in outlying areas. The initial proposal from Rentokil was for one year of service. Wilson said with the work starting in the early fall, Rentokil didn’t have adequate knowledge of the seagull breeding characteristics of our area, and it was believed that the seagulls were nesting near the landfill. However, he said it was determined this spring that the targeted Ring Billed Gulls do not nest in this area. He said Rentokil now believes the majority of the seagull population throughout the summer are primarily migrators with newly-fledged birds – that travel the Atlantic fly path and are mostly headed to the Niagara River for the winter.

He said they cover household waste at Scotch Line on a daily basis, which exceeds requirements under the ECA, which requires weekly cover. Staff are also recommending buying steel plates for cover in the 2020 budget. Staff are working on final cover of areas not being landfilled anymore.

Not one solution

“Any seagull mitigation program is not a one solution for every scenario. Every area is unique and requires adjustments as the service provider gathers more information regarding the bird’s behaviour,” Wilson said in a written report.

He said the plan going forward includes a major change to minimal operations in the spring, with a larger focus in late summer and early fall using falcons and hawks to ward off the gulls.

Staff recommended renewing the contract with Rentokil Steritech for another term, saying “this form of mitigation program can take up to three years before substantial change is realized.”

It’s estimated to cost about $41,000 in 2019 and just over $35,000 in 2020.

During a discussion at last Thursday’s regular council meeting, Wilson said numbers had decreased. He said a year ago, there were 1000-plus gulls and now the worst day will see about 300, with an average of 160-220.

Mayor Brent Devolin said he goes to the dump once a week and the “summer permanent population is many orders of magnitude less.”

Deputy mayor Lisa Schell said she’s also noticed a “drastic” reduction. “Council and staff are doing everything they possibly can to make strides with this.” She said she understands that residents of Mountain Lake still think there is a correlation between the seagulls at the landfill and the lake despite the contractor’s findings.

Coun. Jean Neville said seagulls aren’t just at the landfill and on Mountain Lake, but Lake Kashagawigamog, too. “I don’t think people appreciate what has gone into this project. I’m sure it adds up to quite a bit of money,” she said.

Coun. Bob Carter said they are still getting complaints from Mountain Lake cottagers and wondered if the township would have to do battle with gulls “for ever and ever, Amen” and “are we fighting a losing battle?”

Wilson reiterated there’d been a significant gain on last year and that the contractor said it can take three years to make a real difference.

Devolin said “the reality is we’re not in control over all of this. We can’t take the sole responsibility. We’re getting close to the end of our responsibility to the public.”

Algonquin Highlands has identified six priorities following a township strategic visioning session Aug. 27.

“A lot has happened since our last visioning session in January 2018,” said CAO Angie Bird in a memo prior to the six-hour meeting. She added, “This is our opportunity to collectively imagine the future, discuss the current challenges we face and develop some priorities to ensure a successful next three to four years.”

Mayor Carol Moffatt said it was a chance to look for staff and council commonality on the major elements of their strategy for the remainder of the 2018-2020 term. She said they also wanted new councillors, Jennifer Dailloux and Julia Shortreed to have a couple of months under their belts before reconvening.

After the session, Moffatt said councillors and staff were “like cattle facing in the wind. We are all aligned. There is not a great divide as to what staff and councillors think we should be doing for our community, so it’s nice to see that.”

She said the first priority is a continued focus on a robust environmental strategy. She noted that included public education and a zoning bylaw update that considers all environment factors: including landfills; waste management; lake health; shoreline preservation; fisheries; and participating in the county’s climate change strategy.

Number two is infrastructure, which ties in with the asset management plan. She said that conversation drifted into how they manage grants. While the township has been successful in winning grants over the past eight years, it has largely fallen to one staff member. Moffatt said there was talk of possibly contracting out grant management. They’ll also be looking at the results of their energy audit and an energy management plan.

A third priority is around human resources. The mayor said they value staff but want to make concerted efforts around retention and “ensuring opportunities for people to bring their best game to the job.” For example, she said when a staff member completes a course and receives a certificate, that should be acknowledged.

The fourth plank from the session is a continuing strong communications strategy, the mayor said, including “making sure that we are communicating our work adequately and usefully.” They also want to ensure constituents can engage with the township and provide feedback.

A fifth priority is finding efficiencies. Moffatt said that involves looking at service levels and opportunities. “So, if it doesn’t need four person’s eyes on it, don’t have four person’s eyes on it.” She said the township also still has its $540,000 in “magical mystery money” the province granted it for finding efficiencies.

Moffatt said the sixth and final priority circles back to volunteers, including review of committee mandates and training. “So, volunteers have the right tools and resources to bring their best game forward.”

The mayor said the results of the session are “nothing earth shattering at all,” but there was “a whole bunch of stuff that last year came from our visioning session, and were introduced into our way of doing things.”

Moffatt said they also revisited their vision statement and she insisted they add the word “responsive” because “the landscape is continually changing, and changing quickly.”

One of the biggest challenges for local townships is that the population is growing at a greater rate than the provincial average, resulting in a greater use of infrastructure and services. In some cases, it is requiring the hiring of additional staff. Moffatt defending the hirings, saying, “no one is sitting around playing cards, waiting for the bat phone to ring.”