County council will establish a staff working group to look into the possibility of incinerating garbage in the Highlands – and report back to council in September.

The move came after County councillors dismissed the idea of one-tier waste management services delivery at its May 22 meeting.

Instead, they opted for the four townships to keep working together.

CAO Gary Dyke pointed out how Coun. Walt McKechnie had asked whether alternative waste management solutions were considered by the consultant. He said it had not been part of their work. However, he said staff could look into it if directed by council.

“I think there’s merit in looking at alternative methodologies,” he said. “Keeping up to date with modern technologies, as opposed to just burying all of our garbage in the ground.” He noted there are incinerators in Ontario as well as European models.

Warden Liz Danielsen said, “I think you’ve heard some encouraging words over the last few meetings urging council to look at incineration. I would welcome staff doing some advance research,”

Coun. Jennifer Dailloux said she’d like staff input from the lower-tier before going to a consultant, as “there is a wealth of information out there and staff have been doing a whole lot of this thinking already.”

Danielsen and Dyke indicated it would be an internal look. Dyke called it a “white paper” with alternatives for Haliburton County.

Coun. Cec Ryall said a council decision to investigate incineration would be “controversial.

“There’s going to be a lot of discussion about it. A fact-finding mission is the right thing to do to get the rules of how it works, the actual challenges and advantages clearly defined before we start getting the emails on the pros and cons of what people think of it.”

McKechnie said he was “passionate about another alternative to our landfill site issue.”

He said he had been working on the incineration file behind the scenes and, “there are definitely some things that have really improved with regard to the product that is out there.”

He added landfill sites are being closed, forcing waste to be trucked on highways to alternate sites. However, he foresees that ending, with high costs of trucking and recipients no longer wanting to accept garbage.

“I think there is going to come a time here really soon where we are going to have to start being responsible for our own garbage. The only way you do that is the model that, especially Sweden and Norway, have been following for the past 50 years.”

He said there is a company in Norway that builds incinerators for Singapore that are capable of getting rid of between 15 tons to two million tons of garbage.

He said the biggest question is environmental pollution “and I am 100 per cent against that.

“I think there is an opportunity here for somebody to be the pioneer in rural Ontario. We need to start thinking about another alternative here really soon.”

County coun. Bob Carter’s wish for a bus between Minden and Haliburton has stalled – with the lone bidder for the job pitching a yearly cost of $685,344 on top of start-up costs of $45,000 and the County paying for gas.

Director of economic development and tourism, Scott Ovell, delivered the bad news to council at its May 22 meeting.

On Sept. 27 last year, Carter called for a request for proposals for a two-year pilot project. In December, staff outlined a draft for the service. The project was put out to tender in March, closing in April. Staff received a single, qualified response from BTS Network, a company with service in southern Ontario, including the Region of Peel, Niagara Transit Commission, and Fort Erie.

Ovell said their pitch was for a fixed route service with two vehicles operating in opposing directions, hourly, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, excluding holidays. The firm identified six stops in each community and approximate pick-up and drop-off times.

Multiple vehicle options were given, with staff identifying an eight-passenger van with wheelchair access as their preferred choice.

BTS Network also provided alternate transit options, including a fixed route but with booked online stops, and a full on-demand service in the towns, but staff did not consider these options.

“Given the cost of the proposed transit service is significantly higher than the funds currently available in the transit reserve, staff are not recommending that council proceed with this project at this time,” Ovell said.

The County has $182,601.52 in its transit reserve. Gas tax funding is not available in first years of operations. Ovell said in year two, they could get up to $68,523 from the province. Year three could see up to $126,020.

“Staff are proposing to continue to gather information related to possible transit solutions and share them with council when available,” he added.

Carter said, “I cannot begin to express how disappointed I am in this, and for a number of different reasons.

“We’ve kicked this around for years and done little or nothing about it,” he said. Carter added he believes previous attempts failed as they were “idealistic” offering “everything for everybody.”

He said his request was for a “bare bones starting point. Get something started and see if we can make it grow. The idea was not to run a service that also included wheelchair access and all of the extras.” For example, he was envisioning one bus, not two. He said the extras had driven up the cost and there was no accounting for ridership fees.

He urged council to strike a committee “to look at how to make this happen.”

CAO Gary Dyke said he appreciated Carter’s comments and frustrations but “transit in rural areas is hard.” He added the RFP was approved by council and based on his experience he was not surprised at the cost.

He favoured a committee but said they should not dismiss the rideshare idea. “Other small, rural municipalities have invested in the rideshare program to great effect.” He cited Prince Edward County as an example. He didn’t think a single bus would work, and suggested accessibility was important for the area’s aging demographic and potential ridership. He said council has to establish a clear mandate before proceeding.

Carter said, “this is something that we incredibly need in this area. But I think we need to start right at the basics.”

Warden Liz Danielsen took exception to Carter commenting nothing had been done for years.

“There have been working groups established, there have been studies. We have funded small trials in efforts to try and see how this would work,” she said. She agreed to a working group, saying she could not accept a nearly $700,000 annual spend for a service for two of four townships.

Coun. Cec Ryall has sat on past transportation working groups and said, “the bad news is, every time something came out of it, it was too expensive.” He urged council to use information already gathered “so we have a place to start from as opposed to let’s go and reinvent the whole thing.”

Council voted to strike a transit working group and will discuss the matter again on June 12.

Kevin Dunlop stands outside a portable shed in front of the Thrift Warehouse in Haliburton, working on a cedar chest.

He bends over a table doing marquetry – a decorative inlay of a canoe reflected in water.

People might know Dunlop from his days on the Studio Tour, when he was known as the Marquetryman.

As he works on the chest, he says he’s been in the Highlands since 1981.

“My wife’s more local than I am,” he says with a grin that shows laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. “I’d never get that kind of credential.”

SIRCH has hired Dunlop for a new pilot, ‘last chance project.’ Marketing manager, Laurie McCaig, said for the next few months, the warehouse will be accepting wooden furniture that would normally be turned away, and end up in the landfill.

“We’ll determine whether it’s worth it to improve it and sell it by repairing, restoring, refinishing, repurposing or upcycling,” McCaig said.

Dunlop tells the story of the chest. It came in with loose veneer on the top, as it had been water damaged. It was rejected at the receiving door. They called Dunlop over for a second opinion. He was hesitant, recognizing it would be a big job. However, he said staff challenged him, “and I decided to take on the project.”

He scraped the bad veneer off the lid, made the marquetry panel, sanded it, put a new finish on it. It took about three days, but the time was an anomaly.

“For the most part, the pieces I’ve been able to save have been under two hours of work,” he says.

He added he spends a great deal of time in conversation with people while he works, educating them on how, they too, can fix furniture destined for the landfill.

“We’re not only trying to rescue the furniture, but we’re trying to stimulate peoples’ imaginations, so they can now go into the thrift store, look at something that’s not quite ready for main street, and can imagine what they might be able to do with it. They can pick my brain and get some ideas on technique.”

Dunlop said he’s “loving it.” McCaig added Dunlop is the man for the job. “He has a fantastic reputation in the area. That friendly face gets it every time, but his wealth of knowledge of woodworking, with him having a studio tour booth for many years, he was just the perfect fit. We were happy to bring him onboard.”

McCaig said he’ll be there until October. “We’re just trying to divert as much as possible from landfill, and we’re trying to teach, that’s what we’re all about. Someone might see a piece like that and say ‘oh, I don’t know’ and just toss it. Instead of tossing it, either bring it here and donate it, help the community, or take on the project yourself, because maybe Kevin can give you an easy solution for a problem. That’s what the program is all about.”

Dunlop said the public is enjoying the program as well.

“Half the people already are quite interested. They’ve been talking about things they’ve brought back to life. I’ve been inviting them to bring before-and-after pictures. I’d like to put up a bulletin board with peoples’ projects. And, people are really picking my brain for techniques.”

He adds, “at this point in my life, it feels good. In my career as a furniture maker, I’ve been responsible for cutting down some trees, now it feels kinda’ good to be making sure that the one’s with good bones are not going to the dump. For me, it’s a process. It’s been a nice headspace when I’m doing the work. Once it’s done, that’s just a byproduct.”

The Thrift Warehouse is at 128 Mallard Rd. in Haliburton.

Construction on a new wing housing CT-related services at Haliburton Highlands Health Services will wrap up in about six weeks, says hospital president and CEO, Veronica Nelson.

Media was invited to attend a walkthrough of the space May 17 – two and a half months after construction began. Nelson said it’s been a quick transformation, with Orillia-based Quinan Construction turning approximately 1,000 sq. ft. of storage and waiting room space into the Haliburton hospital’s new home for CT.

There will be a waiting area, changeroom, and two washrooms. The CT suite includes scan and control rooms, ultrasound room, and storage area. It will accommodate six to eight patients at a time, Nelson said.

Hannah Brown, a casual medical radiation technologist at HHHS, has been hired to run the CT unit. Nelson said Brown will start her new role June 3. It’ll be a busy month, with the Siemens Healthineers SOMATOM go.Top CT scanner to arrive June 17, and construction to wrap up by early July.

Nelson said other staff will be trained on the machines beginning July 8. The hospital will start taking bookings that week.

“It’s very exciting seeing the progress, the finishing line getting that much closer. This is the biggest, most significant enhancement this hospital has seen since it was built in 2001, and it’s all just a few weeks away from completion,” Nelson said. “This long-standing dream is finally becoming a reality.”

It’s all music to the ears of Tim Waite, the County’s EMS chief, who has been quietly advocating for a CT scanner for several years. Haliburton County is the only region in Ontario currently without the diagnostics device.

Fewer ambulances to leave County

That means Waite has had to deal with almost daily – sometimes more – patient transfers to other hospitals in Lindsay, Peterborough, Huntsville, Bracebridge, and even Kingston. This routinely takes County ambulances and EMS staff out of the community for up to six hours, he said.

In 2023, Haliburton County EMS completed more than 350 patient transfers – the bulk of those for CT scans.

“This is certainly a game-changer for EMS. CT transfers contribute to a significant amount of time where we have ambulances outside Haliburton County – none of these are scheduled, they are all for patients who arrive at the ER in Haliburton with an illness or injury that requires further diagnostics,” Waite said, noting his crew usually waits for the patient to get their scan before transporting them home.

There are four ambulances on the road during peak times, between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m., dropping to three for the overnight shift. Waite said there will be an additional ambulance serving the community on weekends through the summer.

“It’s a bit of a juggling act at times – we certainly have those days that are extremely busy, where we have two ambulances away for transfers. Sometimes all it takes is one big incident, or a car crash, and we have multiple people requiring transfer,” Waite noted.

When backed up, Waite said paramedics often have to make difficult choices prioritizing people for transfer based on the severity of their issue. He likes to ensure there are always at least two ambulances available in the County.

Freeing up ambulance crews to respond almost exclusively to local calls is important Waite said, given call volumes have increased approximately 40 per cent since 2020.

“We have seen those numbers settling down in the last year as far as the big jumps go, but they are still increasing. Where this will help is having more trucks active inside the County servicing 911 calls… we’ll be able to monitor our response time targets and meet them more easily,” Waite said.

He warned, though, there will still be occasions when ambulances need to transport patients out-of-County – if a CT scan shows something that requires more specialized treatment, or if further testing is required.

Waite said there would likely be some cost savings, for things like fuel, but he didn’t have an approximate number. In 2022, he told The Highlander the average transfer for CT costs $720. Based on the department completing 350 transfers per year, savings could reach $252,000 annually.

The total cost of CT and mammography expansion has been touted at between $3 and $3.5 million. The HHHS Foundation has committed to raising $4.3 million for the project.

Executive director Melanie Klodt Wong kicked off the fundraising campaign last week, announcing they have raised $2.59 million – just over 60 per cent of the way towards meeting its goal.

“We want to have this wrapped up sooner than any other campaign I’ve worked on before. This is really fast and furious, we want to get this all paid off as soon as possible,” Klodt Wong said. “If anyone is considering making a donation, now is the time. This is your chance to support an important, life-changing project that’s going to help, in some way, every person in this community.”

To make a donation, contact mklodtwong@hhhs.ca or 705457-1580.

Luba Cargill admitted she felt a little overwhelmed at times during last week’s All About Apple Trees symposium in Haliburton, but for all the right reasons.

The event was months in the making – a collaboration between Cargill and volunteers involved with her Apple Tree Identification Project (ATIP) and U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research. It brought some of the continent’s top apple experts to the Highlands, educating people about apple tree locations and apple-based operations in the County, and investigating the role apples can play in improving food security.

Around 100 people attended the two-day event, held at the Haliburton Legion May 16 and 17.

“It was an outstanding success – we covered a lot of topics in terms of apples, people were very receptive and eager to hear how they could help further promote the use of apples in the County, and all the wonderful benefits they bring,” Cargill said.

Celebrity apple tree hunter Tom Brown made the trip from North Carolina, keeping the crowd engaged while he retold stories of him discovering hundreds of different apple varieties over the years. Author Helen Humphries discussed her book The Ghost Orchard, later doing a reading and signing copies for fans.

Brian Husband, a University of Guelph professor, talked about the Ontario Heritage and Feral Apple Project. He said the fruit is native to Europe and Asia but can now be grown almost anywhere in the world. He studies feral populations that have sprouted in unusual areas, noting Haliburton County is home to several such locations.

Through her work with ATIP, Cargill has identified more than 170 apple tree locations across the County, including 10 orchards. Many are located on private acreages, and on municipal land – some long forgotten about, and evidence that early settlers relied on apples as a key food source, Cargill noted.

Given the County’s position as one of the poorest in Ontario – with around 17 per cent of residents living in poverty per the City of Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Poverty Reduction Roundtable – and an increased demand at all food banks, attendees heard how the fruit can play a key role in improving food security in the area.

Aisha Malik, co-chair of Harvest Haliburton, said her organization partnered with Abby Junkin, a research student from Trent University, on ways to maximize the County’s apple supply.

“We know there are challenges to our community when it comes to growing local food. There are geographical constraints, insufficient infrastructure, low incomes… addressing food system challenges requires a comprehensive approach,” Malik said. “We need more community engagement, policy interventions at the municipal level, investments in infrastructure, and collaboration among stakeholders.

“We all have to come together to build a sustainable food system.”

One of the easiest ways is to plant apple trees, Malik said.

“They’re versatile, renowned for their heartiness and low-maintenance requirements. They have a lengthy shelf life and exceptional nutritional value,” she said. “People can use them in soups, salads, baked foods, or even to eat on their own.”

Gena Robertson of SIRCH Community Services said her organization has been utilizing local apples in recipes at the Bistro, and for its applesauce project, for several years.

The applesauce project was launched in 2014 after SIRCH partnered with Trent University students on a project investigating food insecurity and poverty in the County. They conducted 78 interviews with clients and other community stakeholders, finding that only one per cent of seniors surveyed could afford to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into their daily diet.

Each year, people with apple trees are encouraged to pick and donate them to SIRCH, where volunteers cook and process them into applesauce. Over the past 10 years, SIRCH has supplied 9,669 servings of free applesauce to the community.

Robertson said there’s no waste, with cores and peels feeding pigs. Prod:

Scott Ovell, the County’s director of economic development and tourism, said his department would be happy to partner with ATIP and other organizations to promote the Highlands as a destination for people interested in apple products.

“We’ve done it with things like [Maplefest] – a lot of people don’t know that Haliburton County, in the last four years, has become a premier source for maple sap and there’s two big players that have moved here,” he said, noting, in theory, the same thing could happen with apples.

Andrew Gordon, director at U-Links, said decision-makers need only look at Prince Edward County at how to revitalize the local apple industry.

“I can remember 35 years ago driving through there… and it was derelict. But now, people are driving two-and-a-half hours from Toronto to have a glass of wine and turning around and going right back home,” Gordon said. “I think we can do the exact same thing here.”

Cargill said ATIP Haliburton is working on a cookbook filled with locally-inspired recipes for people to try. It will be available in the fall.

For more information, or to find tree locations included in this year’s Apple Blossom Tour, visit appletreeshaliburton.ca.