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

Listen to the audio version of this story below

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

Region of Queens officials plan to take action to curb the ongoing garbage problem in the county’s increasingly popular cottage country.

Councillors will vote on several recommendations at their June 25 meeting that they hope will mitigate chronic trash pileups and overflows at so-called “greybox” sites in areas such as Labelle and Molega.

There are about 40 greybox sites on or near private roads throughout the municipality. They consume half of the region’s garbage collection budget. 

The private roads do not have the regular garbage pickup service of most property owners who live on public roads. So the municipality has dropoff sites throughout the region where residents can deposit their waste, recyclables and compostables.

The region picks up the garbage once a week in spring, fall and winter and either two or three times a week in summer months.

District 6 Coun. David Brown has a lot of recreational or cottage properties in his area. In January, he asked the region’s staff to come up with possible solutions to the refuse abuse.

Brown said that especially in the busier summer months, people regularly just toss their trash on the ground around the greyboxes, instead of putting it inside. They’ll also leave big household items like furniture at the sites, even though the municipal landfill is nearby.

Even non-residents regularly leave their garbage, compounding the problem. Some bring their trash in on Fridays and dump them at the sites when they visit their properties on the weekends.

“The bylaw says that those grey bins are for the residents of private roads only for bagged garbage, created on site,” Brown said. “And people who are spending the weekend and dumping everything on Sunday night as they leave, a lot of that stuff can be taken to the landfill.” 

Region of Queens officials want to crack down on how people on private roads use greyboxes for their garbage. (Rick Conrad)

CAO Cody Joudry said he and other staff members have had many discussions about why the problem persists and how to fix it.

“At some of our worst sites, it starts to reach a threshold … at which it seems to overflow,” Joudry said. “And once one person does something, then all of a sudden everyone does it, sort of disrespect the whole thing.”

Joudry said staff suggest trying a few different things to see what works. He made five recommendations:

• install cameras to record when and how often the sites begin to overflow
• capture license plates of offenders and send notices to vehicle owners warning that further offences will result in fines
• add more greyboxes to see if it reduces the amount or frequency of overflows
• look for other locations where the boxes are less visible to non-residents
• increase the collection frequency at some locations from Dec. 1 to March 31.

Joudry said the region tried to install surveillance cameras at some sites years ago, but people stole them. He said staff have ideas about how to limit or prevent that from happening again.

Joudry said staff would report to council in mid-winter 2025 on the effectiveness of their efforts.

District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy said the areas have unreliable internet and cell service, so real-time surveillance may be difficult.

He said he’d also like to see an area for people to leave large items so they don’t get in the way of the greyboxes. He suggested a semi-annual “dump day” for people to drop large items, and to hold a roadside giveaway once a year.

“If we don’t get that big stuff moved out from in front of the bins, people are … going to throw their garbage down there and then somebody else throws the garbage there and then you’ve got the bins that aren’t even full, you can’t get at them becasue of the big items in front of them,” Fancy said.

Brown said that he hopes the situation will improve with some education and enforcement. 

“We as a region allow people to take four loads to the landfill every month without charge. … So if somebody has taken the effort to load a chesterfield on the back of a truck and drive it out to the grey bin and throw it on the ground in front of the bins, it’s an extra 15 minutes to go to the landfill and dispose of it properly.  … We need education and a little bit of enforcement and I think the problem will go away on its own.

“And I really applaud staff for coming through and trying an approach because for the past 10 years we have suffered from analysis paralysis. … This starts us on the approach to getting something done. And I think as word gets around that there’s some enforcment happening, people will not want to pay that $682.50 fine.”

The municipality says the extra measures could cost up to $40,000, with the majority of that going to increased weekly garbage collection in winter.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Entrance to Region of Queens council chambers. Photo Ed Halverson

A relatively light agenda at the Oct 12 Region of Queens council meeting started out with preparations for winter.

Council awarded the tender to truck bulk road salt to the lone submission, VanDyk Excavation & Truckin’ for $78.76 per metric tonne.

Visitors to Queens Place will see a new ice resurfacer in the summer of 2024 as council agreed to purchase a new electric Zamboni at a cost of $179,975.  Funding is coming from the province through a Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage grant valued at $205,000. The balance of the funds will be used to install the charging unit and make any necessary modifications.

The region will also partner with the province to pave a 200-metre-long section of Oliver Street. Queens will pay $50,000, half the cost of the total $100,000 project with the province picking up the balance.

Council next agreed to make an application to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to provide a one-time reduction of the consumption rate for residents affected by the two-months-long boil water advisory. If approved, residents will see the 70 percent reduction on their January bill.

Council then issued a dangerous and unsightly order for a property at 9777 Highway 8 in Caledonia near the fire station. The owner now has 30 days to clean up the site or they will be responsible to pay costs to the municipality to complete the work which includes demolishing a makeshift outbuilding, removing debris, and levelling the property.

In the discussion portion of the meeting councillors asked staff to report back with solutions for illegal dumping at Grey Boxes in private roads in Labelle.

Staff were also asked to provide council with options for reducing homelessness in Queens.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday October 24 at 6:00pm in the Seaside Recreation Centre in Eagle Head.

To hear the broadcast of this story click play below.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com