Trash Talk

Diane O'Hara's Update on Lorne Road


Item 1:

In the Examiner on May 2nd, there was an extensive article with comments by Barb McMurray, our council rep. and Mayor Graydon Smith regarding discards, furniture etc. left at garbage disposals in Oakley.

In fact at the time this article appeared there was a dumping of furniture items at our own garbage disposal area, disappearing when they removed the bins for door to door collection. Please remember that garbage collection pertains to BAGGED GARBAGE ONLY. (no toilets...no barbeques)

Here is the article from the Bracebridge Examiner:

Misuse of dump irks councillor and mayor

Coun. Barb McMurray says she is irked by the improper use of the winter waste transfer station in her ward. McMurray expressed her concerns at a council meeting on April 25, where she said she’s received complaints from a number of residents concerning people who dump more than just household garbage at the Oakley Ward winter transfer station.

“People keep dumping chairs and chesterfields and you name it. I don’t know how that can be sorted out, but somehow they’ve got to learn it’s for household garbage and for that only,” she said.

Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith echoed McMurray’s sentiments, and shared his own experiences with the issue when he passed by the same transfer station just days earlier.

“It was absolutely disgusting and I was very disappointed in the condition of it, and disappointed that residents of the community would feel that level of excessive dumping is acceptable. It’s not acceptable,” he said. “I took exceptional offence to it because it was on Earth Day that I saw it. I was really very disheartened.”

Smith urges residents to take greater ownership of their community when it comes to handling waste.

“If we could send a message at all to our residents, it’s that they need to properly use the landfill facilities we provide for them, that they pay tax dollars investing into them, and to keep their community looking as lovely as possible,” he said.

Item 2:

I drove over to the Town offices, Public Works Department, to inquire re Lorne Road repairs.

A date has not been set, but it is anticipated the ditching of Lorne Road will not occur until late summer.

Last year three members expressed interest in obtaining the ditching material. Thus I obtained 4 forms of application titled 'Release of Liability'. In summary it states "that this material may contain traces of oil, rubber from tires, antifreeze, metals or other unknown contaminants".

The problem with the ditching material, then, is that the contaminants may affect our lake water. You may want to consult with the Lake

Stewardship Committee, Chair Larry Jacobs, prior to taking this 'unsafe' earth. Another deterrent is that they will not deliver the ditching material directly to us as our roads are private. Again this is a liability issue.

Diane O'Hara