City shares few details as it proceeds with bid for east Ottawa landfill
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the city
will continue with its bid on a private east-end landfill
and will share more details about the potential acquisition once the competitive bidding process is complete.
Ottawa city council emerged from a lengthy closed-door session on Wednesday with Sutcliffe offering few details and he said the city will continue to participate in the bidding process, but must abide by a non-disclosure agreement over the prospective price tag of the 475-acre site near Carlsbad Springs.
“Understandably, I know members of the public are anxious to hear more information,” Sutcliffe said. “The City of Ottawa will continue its participation in the competitive bidding process related to the acquisition of this landfill. However, given the requirements for confidentiality, details will be reported out once the bidding process is over and the non-disclosure agreement has been lifted.”
Sutcliffe acknowledged the widespread public interest in the landfill and said councillors “went above and beyond” to give residents a chance to express their views on the site in public delegations
during last week’s finance and corporate services committee
.
“I would want to acknowledge that this has been a difficult process for many residents and for members of council due to the confidentiality requirements of the non-disclosure agreement we entered into (in April) in order to explore this opportunity to purchase a private landfill, the only one approved in Ontario in the last 20 years,” Sutcliffe said.
Sutcliffe said council will share details of the acquisition once the process comes to an end. He suggested the decision to proceed with the bid was reached via a direction to staff, rather than a full council vote, during an in-camera session that was closed to the public and lasted for more than two hours Wednesday.
“This is an issue of timing, not transparency,” Sutcliffe said.
“We held a public meeting of the finance committee because we wanted to share as much information as possible with residents and provide an opportunity for public engagement and input,” he said. “We went above and beyond what was required so the residents had a chance to share their views, but also to hear our views on this important decision.”
The Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre (CRRRC) is currently owned by Taggart Miller Environmental Services Inc. and is located on the east side of Boundary Road north of Devine Road and west of Frontier Road near the Boundary Road-Highway 417 interchange and abutting the east-end Amazon fulfillment centre.
The property presents a rare opportunity, a city staff report says. It has already been approved by the province as a landfill, and the city can’t prevent it from being used that way. Owning the landfill would give the city flexibility and prevent it from being acquired by a private owner or another municipality. If it becomes a private landfill, tipping fees may be unpredictable.
“It’s going to be landfill in the future. It will either be owned by a private company, another municipality — or it will be owned by the City of Ottawa,” Sutcliffe said at the Nov. 21 finance committee.
“I think the discussion to be had is whether this is a good value for taxpayers’ money as part of our long-range plans for solid waste and whether it’s in the public interest for the city for the site to be publicly owned, or for it to be owned by another municipality that would be trucking garbage into our city.”
Ottawa’s population is expected to reach 1.5 million people by 2053, and
the existing landfill is expected to reach capacity within the next decade
, according to a staff report.
Alain Gonthier, the city’s general manager of public works, said getting the approvals for a new landfill was a process that would typically take 15 years. If Ottawa acquires the property, it’s getting the land and all of the permits and approvals attached to the site.
Coun. Isabelle Skalski, whose Osgoode ward includes the Carlsbad area, said local residents were “beside themselves” when they learned the city was contemplating buying the site.
“They’re tired of being the backyard dumping ground storage shed for Ottawa,” said Skalski. “This rural community has fought tooth and nail for a decade to stop the facility on Boundary Road from being approved because of serious environmental concerns, backed by expert analysis, that the site is not suitable for a landfill.”
With files from Joanne Laucius
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