Letter to Bonnechere Valley

Regarding the Ruby Road dump

September 19, 2008

Township of Bonnechere Valley
49 Bonnechere Street East
P.O. Box 100
Eganville Ontario K0J 1T0

Re: Ruby Waste Disposal Site

Dear Mayor Mintha and Council,

The Golden Lake Property Owners Association has been active for the past five years in facilitating a dialogue among its members and with the wider community on a range of issues of mutual interest.

At its annual general meeting on June 7 the proposed waste disposal site on Ruby Road was a subject of some debate, with strong positions expressed on both sides. There not being sufficient time or resources to fully explore the issue at our AGM, the board of directors agreed to host a special meeting on the subject later in the summer. The special meeting was held at St. Andrews Church in Killaloe on July 19. We appreciated the participation of Mayor Mintha, Councillor Cybulski, and John Desbiens of Cambium Environmental at the meeting.

Although the issue was thoroughly discussed, it was apparent at the GLPOA special meeting and at the meeting in Eganville hosted by the Township on July 26th, that a consensus does not exist on the appropriateness of the Ruby Road option versus the Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre option.

One of the major duties of the GLPOA Board and a key mandate of the organization is to provide information to the members on issues in which they have an interest. In the case of the Ruby Road Waste Disposal issue, details of the two options regarding their respective financial and environmental implications have not been published in an accessible form.

We therefore urge the Municipality to conduct a thorough financial and environmental analysis of both options and to disclose the results of the analysis in an accessible form, on its web site and/or through the local media. Only when such an analysis is available will the GLPOA Board be able to fulfill its mandate to inform its members on this important issue so they can make up their own minds as to the most appropriate course of action.

Thank you for your contribution to our special meeting on July 19 and for your consideration of our request. We would appreciate having your response to our request for further information on the two waste disposal options.

Sincerely,

Kevin O’Connor, President
On behalf of the GLPOA Board of Directors