Willa Thorpe is the chief administrative officer of the Region of Queens Municipality. (Rick Conrad)

Employees facing layoff when the Region of Queens closes its recycling depot may still have a job with the municipality.

The region announced this week that it would close its materials recovery facility on Dec. 1 in response to new regulations from the Nova Scotia government.

The province is shifting the responsibility for sorting plastics and other packaging to the companies that produce it. That means municipalities won’t need their own sorting facilities anymore.

In Queens, that will affect eight unionized employees.

Willa Thorpe, the region’s chief administrative officer, told QCCR on Thursday that the municipality will try to find other jobs for those workers.

So if there’s an opportunity through current vacancies here in the organization where we have the opportunity to train folks and have them shift to a different position, we’ll do that.

“So if there’s an opportunity through current vacancies here in the organization where we have the opportunity to train folks and have them shift to a different position, we’ll do that.”

She said they’re also going to hook workers up with provincial and federal supports from Nova Scotia Works and Service Canada.

Unionized employees at the Region of Queens Waste Management Facility are represented by Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The local signed a new contract with the region after a week-long strike in January.

Thorpe said the agreement requires five days’ notice of any ceasing of operation or service that will affect jobs. She said managers wanted to give the affected employees more notice, so they met with workers and their local union representative as soon as council decided to close the facility.

“We think it’s important that our employees know exactly what’s going on, that their livelihood may be impacted, and so rather than follow the (basic language) of the collective agreement, we think we hold ourselves to a higher standard. So we actually met with staff a few hours after meeting with council, so the same day as opposed to waiting, so that those employees can be confident they know exactly what’s going on.”

Some workers will continue to be employed until at least Dec. 1, depending on how long it takes to wind down the facility, Thorpe said.

She said the collective agreement does not provide for severance pay. But she said “the region is actually actively working on providing some severance to those employees.”

She didn’t have details yet on what that package might be.

Jim Sponagle, the business manager for IBEW, told QCCR earlier this week that relations between the union and the region have not improved since the strike.

Thorpe, who started as CAO in June, said that’s incorrect.

“I would disagree with that statement based on the conversations I’ve heard since the labour action, the relations have improved.” 

Nothing will change for residents in how garbage and recyclables are collected, and the municipality’s solid waste facility will remain open. 

A company called Circular Materials will be taking over the sorting of recyclables from the region. That’s an organization formed by large corporations like MacDonald’s, Nestle Canada and Pepsico.

Thorpe said municipalities are still working out details of the agreement with Circular Materials, so she’s not sure yet how much money the region might save.

“What the specific impacts are to municipalities we’re still determining where the dust will settle. But the idea is that the producer would bear the lion’s share of the cost.”

Thorpe said officials with the region plan to meet with affected employees again next week.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Laura Methot is president of the Greater Molega Lake Lot Owners Association. (Rick Conrad)

Region of Queens councillors dumped proposed changes to garbage collection on Tuesday after residents packed the public gallery to protest the proposals.

More than 40 property owners from the region’s cottage country showed up at council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, concerned that the municipality was trying to download responsibility for illegal dumping onto volunteer-run residents’ groups.

More than 5,700 properties in Queens County are connected to roads that aren’t maintained by the municipality or the province. Most of these roads are in the areas of Molega, Ponhook and Annis lakes. Private lot owner groups collect fees from residents to maintain those roads.

People who live on public roads in Queens County usually get regular roadside garbage collection. Those on private roads, however, have to take their waste to a central location, known as grey box sites. From there, the municipality picks it up.

But under proposed changes discussed at Tuesday’s council meeting, responsibility for the maintenance and cleanup of those grey box sites would shift from the municipality to non-profit property owner groups.

Laura Methot, president of the Greater Molega Lake Lot Owners Association, which represents more than 1,200 property owners, told councillors on Tuesday that the proposed changes won’t address the longstanding problems of people dumping their trash illegally at the grey box sites.

“It is absolutely absurd to think that private road associations, managed by volunteer boards, would be able to solve the illegal dumping problem and unsightly premises that the region has not been able to tackle for years,” Laura Methot, president of the Greater Molega Lake Lot Owners Association, told councillors.

“Worse still, this bylaw update, if passed, would result in diverting resources, both time and money, away from our primary mandate, which is keeping our roads safe and passable in good condition.”

The Molega Lake area alone covers more than 1,200 hectares and 52 kilometres of roadway. It’s the largest recreational development in Atlantic Canada, though many people live in the area year-round.

Residents say they contribute disproportionately to the region’s tax base, while getting far fewer services than most other areas.

“The proposed amendments entrench this imbalance rather than resolving it,” Methot said.

Former regional councillor David Brown, who lives in Labelle, said that nobody would volunteer for lot owner groups if they were also now expected to clean up the grey box sites.

He said that at the lot owners annual general meeting in June, Mayor Scott Christian promised more collaboration and consultation.

“That didn’t happen,” Brown told councillors.

“
What we find is this is not a discussion, it’s not presented to us as options, but it’s a downloading of responsibility. It’s over 40 private law owners associations, and they’re volunteer associations.

“This bylaw, if passed, will be the end of all residential landowners associations. Nobody’s going to go out there and volunteer for a board and pick up garbage. It’s not going to happen. So as those lawowners associations disband because they can’t get volunteers, the roads won’t be maintained, Property values are going to go down.”

About 40 property owners showed up at Tuesday’s regional council meeting to protest proposed changes to garbage collection. (Rick Conrad)

After hearing from residents, councillors voted unanimously against the proposed amendments. And they voted instead to have councillors and staff consult with the lot owners groups about potential changes in garbage collection.

Christian said after the meeting that council heard the community loud and clear.

“There was a real, strong reaction from the community. Emails came flying in. Telephone messages came flying in to all members of council,” Christian said after the meeting. 

“We’re trying to get to a place, though, where we’re as transparent and open in the way that we do business as possible. … So I think we got it right and I think that it’s a tricky issue, though. It continues to be this persistent issue, but I’m hopeful that we can find good, creative solutions through broad-based engagement with everybody who’s impacted out there. 
Sit down, do some creative brainstorming, and figure out maybe we can pilot this solution, pilot that solution, see what works, you know, and then go from there.”

Methot of the Molega Lake lot owners group said after the meeting that she believes Christian and the rest of council are committed to working with residents. 

“I am very pleased with how it turned out, and particularly with the confirmation and recommitment of the mayor and council to working collaboratively with our association and with the broader community. It was a very positive outcome for us.”

Christian said the engagement sessions are already in the works. He said he hopes that the community consultations will result in a solution to the garbage problem that residents can live with.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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(Submitted)

By Rick Conrad

Region of Queens councillors want a long-term fix to garbage pileups in Queens County cottage country.

District 6 Coun. David Brown says it’s a huge problem. He asked staff for recommendations on how to resolve it.

He said the 40 so-called “grey box” sites on private roads throughout the county consume half of the region’s garbage collection budget. Brown said the problem is more pronounced this time of year because the region picks up the garbage once a week, compared to three times a week in summer.

“Our population has outgrown the garbage box system,” he said. 

“We’ve Band-Aided the system together and done a great job. But we’re victims of our own success by having a very popular area that people want to come to. We have a lot of people coming with garbage.

“It’s not completely a region problem, it’s a people problem. … There are people that are just too lazy to put the garbage in the boxes.”

Brown said some people truck in waste from other places when they arrive at their properties for the weekend.

He said the municipality doesn’t have the staff resources to police these areas. And while they’ve posted cameras, the problem persists.

“We need staff to look at this and come back with possible solutions for a long-term fix for this,” he told councillors.

Garbage piled up at one of the ‘grey box’ sites in Queens County. (Submitted)

Mayor Darlene Norman said the Molega Lake and Labelle areas have had the region’s highest housing growth of both full-time and seasonal residents.

And those properties represent a large chunk of tax revenue for the municipality. But they tend to be on private roads, so garbage collection is only at designated places on public roads.

“It is a huge problem. And people in Labelle and Molega area, some people are paying $10,000 property tax out there for no services. It is an issue that has to be dealt with.” 

She acknowledges it may cost the municipality more, but she said cottage owners and homeowners in those areas deserve better.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com