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535-03 Page 222Council' okays landfill __ site near Salford �r17 7 Oxford County council gave final reading Wednesday to a bylaw permitting the county to expropriate 150 acres of land near Salford for use as a sanitary landfill site. A motion by South-West Oxford Mayor Louis Barrett to have third reading postponed until the ministry of the environment could be contacted about alternative means of \taste disposal, was defeated in a 15-3 recorded vote. Coun. Cecil Wilson of South-West Oxford and Coun. Wallis Hammond of Zorra supported the motion. Barrett, who campaigned against use of the Salford site in the December election and led two delegations to council opposing the location, presisted Wednesday in his objections, but got little support from the majority of councillors. He argued that the 260 acre site east of Salford, 60 acres of which the county already owns, is not suitable for waste disposal. It is on a hill and highly visible, he said, and garbage will blow around. He also predicted that run-off from the garbage would go into two creeks nearby and eventually run into the Thames River and that ground water supplies would also be contaminated. He charged that the public works committee had failed to approach the environment ministry for information about the government's 15-year plan for waste disposal, and suggested that the ministry might be able to offer alternatives to the landfill site. He cited ministry information pam- phlets which indicate that at the end of 15 years, 90 per cent of the province will have provincially -operated disposal facilities. Committee chairman Perry Sibbick admitted under questioning from Tillson- burg Coun. Ken Webster that the committee had not approached the ministry to inquire about the plan or disposal alternatives. He said it costs about $5 a ton to dispose of waste by present methods, while recycling methods cost about $35 a ton, a; cording to ministry figures. The committee, he said, feels an immediate alternative is needed. "And we will still need a landfill site, regardless of the disposal method chosen. We're in desperate need of a new site." Expropriation is necessary he told council, in order to permit access to the site for further tersting. "We have to do more testing to see if the site meets ministry criteria," he said, adding "Maybe they'll come back some day and say it doesn't." During the •morning council session, members listened to a presentation by professional engineer Wally Wells, rep- resenting M.M. Dillon, the consulting firm that recommended the Salford site,! and Pat Lee, a hydrogeology specialist with (Continued on Page 13) Application for landfill site endorse cfby province By Carol Leard Oxford County's application for approval to expropriate 150 acres of land near Salford for a sanitary landfill site has been endorsed by provincially ap- pointed inquiry officer Charles MacKenzie. His report, based on a two-day expropriation hearing held Feb. 14 and 17, was received by county council at its April 27 meeting, and recommends that the county proceed with the proposed expropriation. "I have no hesitation in concluding that the taking of the Nancekivell lands is fair, sound and reasonably necessary in the achievement of the objectives of the county," Mr MacKenzie stated in his report. The site selected, according to the inquiry officer, is "probably as good as can be found" in the area designated by the land -site selection report prepared by M.M. Dillon Limited, Consulting Engineers and Planners. Further, the officer stated that he was satisfied that "the greatest of care went into the process of site selection" and that the process was "eminently fair and sound." "There is clear evidence," he said, that the Salford area, as recommended by the consult- ants, "is the best general area within the county of Oxford." The county was represented at the hearing by its solicitor, Alexander Graham. Solicitor Michael O'Dea represented the property owners, Donald and William Naneekiveli. Testimony at the hearing was given by D.M. Matheson, pro- fessional engineer with the ministry of the environment, who in 1974 prepared an assessment of the existing solid waste disposal facilities in the county and urged that high priority be given to resolving the waste disposal problems. Former warden Perry Sibbick told the hearing about county council's decision to hire the Dillon firm to recommend a landfill site based on the report from the environment ministry. County engineer Don Pratt also testified at the hearing, saying that on the basis of a verbal report from M.M. Dillon Limited, council authorized him in July of 1975to negotiate the purchase of property in the area designed by the consultants. A site, but not of sufficient size, became available in the summer of 1975, and the county purchased (.:ounc okays landfill site near (Continued From Page 1) firm for a long time," he said. Coun. Wayne Campbell, adding a word of caution, suggested that council consider the matter in light of whether or not the Anderson firm has been doing a good job. And according to Mayor Harris, it has. "They've made some boo-boo's", Coun. Robins said. "but so have some other firms. I think we have to get cost details and other information on J.D. Lee before maning any decisions." In other business, council urged Mayor Harris to pursue correspondence with the Canadian Transport Commission to reopen negotiations for the proposed extension of Ingersoll Street no, cross the river to connect with Highway 2. Mayor Harris said he was surprised by the CTC's response to a recent letter from the town inquiring about the status of the proposed project. "According to the CTC, the ball has always been in our court," Mayor Harris told council. "But that wasn't my understanding of things." Negotiations with the transport com- mission date back over three years when a 60-acre parcel from owner Grant Hutchinson in Lot 12, Concession 2 of South-West Oxford Township. The land subject to the expropriation preceedings is a 150-acre parcel immediately adjoining the county -owned par- cel, and according to the inquiry officer, "it would appear to meet the criteria for an eminently suitable site." He ruled out alternative methods of `waste disposal, presented at the hearing by Mr. O'Dea as involving "significantly greater cost in terms of absolute dollars to the taxpayers." Following the receipt by council of the inquiry officer's report, the next step, according to Mr Pratt, is for the county to decide whether it wants to proceed with the expropriation. Council has 90 days in which to make the ,decision, but Mr Pratt anticipates that it will come up for discussion at the May 11 meeting of council. "We hope it will be handled as quickly as possible," he said in an interview Monday Council's decision to take the land, however, will be just one more step in a long process, according to Mr Pratt. There are (Continued On Page 14) Salford /,,9 an impass was reached over funding an( cost sharing for the project. The roac extension is being sought by the town as a means of linking its industrial park to the two main highways, Highway 401 and Highway 2. Coun. Robins encouraged Mayor Harris to follow up on his letter and request a meeting with CTC officials. "We should get .our situation up -dated," he said. "Maybe things have changed. There could be other subsidies that weren't available then."