Story:
Sechelt council gave its approval for a plastic bag and bottles reduction strategy at its March 23 committee of the whole meeting.
The strategy will see the District install water fountains in Sechelt to discourage the use of plastic water bottles, with the first water fountain to be erected at the Sechelt skateboard park.
"It reduces substantially the amount of debris that is left behind from plastic water bottles," said manager of sustainability and special projects Emanuel Machado. "There's also the issue of affordability where some kids can not afford to buy water in plastic bottles and the least we could do is provide free water, which is healthy and safe and available. So we would like to, as time permits and budgets allow, start to reintroduce water fountains throughout our parks where we have water spouts in many places."
The strategy also looks at purchasing a "water wagon" to provide water at local events for free to the public in an effort to discourage plastic water bottle use.
Councillors were on board with the plan, which also calls for the use of biodegradable plastic bags in District areas where they can be used effectively. The District is already following the biodegradable bags rule.
Also brought up at the meeting was the issue of creating a water strategy for the District. Councillors agreed to consider mapping potential water sources as part of that overall plan.
Biosolids
Staff was instructed to start the application process to seek funding from the gas tax program in the hope the money can be used to support the construction of a biosolids handling facility and new sewage treatment plant.
Although a building design for the proposed biosolids handling facility has yet to be approved, the biosolids sub-committee has come up with some recommendations for the facility. Sub-committee chair Coun. Warren Allan suggested the gas tax program funds could be used to get the project underway, once council approves a design.
The biosolids sub-committee has the following recommendations for a class-A biosolids treatment option: that open air composting not be considered; that the use of heat drying technology be employed in conjunction with anaerobic digestion and dewatering by centrifuge; that the biosolids treatment facility be fully enclosed in a concrete building to reduce and contain any odours; that the most advanced filtering and ventilation systems be considered to eliminate or significantly reduce any odours or noise; and that the District commit funds to a public awareness campaign about biosolids.
The District plans to build a biosolids treatment facility to reduce the load on the two current sewage treatment plants that service Sechelt and are nearing capacity. In the future, it is expected one new treatment plant will be built on the same site as the biosolids facility, which will replace the two existing, aging plants.
Taylor bylaws
Coun. Fred Taylor brought up three bylaws he wants to see addressed within the next month, saying he ran on the platform that the issues would be dealt with when he gained a seat on council.
The bylaws deal with backyard burning, anti-idling and soil conservation.
Taylor said the environment-related bylaws have been awaiting introduction for about a year and he was concerned they had "fallen off the table."
Staff noted the bylaws have not fallen off the table and in fact are close to being finished. It is expected the draft burning bylaw and draft soil conservation bylaw will be before council later this month. Staff suggested that the anti-idling bylaw should wait until it can come forward as a package with other gas issues.
Taylor said he was OK with waiting on the anti-idling bylaw as long as the other two bylaws are addressed this month.
Town hall meeting
After some debate over when and how a spring town hall meeting would take place so as not to interfere with the Vancouver Canucks' potential playoff games, council agreed to schedule the meeting for May 3 at 7 p.m. at the Seaside Centre.
The town hall meeting is an open house hosted by the District with a question and answer session facilitated by Mayor Darren Inkster. The staff report noted they felt there was poor attendance at the town hall meeting last year because it coincided with the Stanley Cup playoffs.
