Group holding public meeting about possible composting facility at landfill

Summerland residents are invited to attend a meeting about the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen recommendation that the regional compost facility be located at the Summerland landfill.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 24 starting at 6:30 p.m. at 11099 Mitchell Ave., in Summerland.

Kathy Smith announced the meeting during the public comment period at Monday’s council meeting.

She invited the mayor and councillors to attend.

“Bring a lawn chair and water. There’s bound to be many people there,” she said.

Smith and her husband Dave Smith are organizing the meeting.

Smith chastised Mayor Peter Waterman and Coun. Toni Boot, Summerland’s representatives on the RDOS board, for not opposing the recommendation.

“Tom Siddon and Linda Larson came out strongly against the idea of locating the facility in Marron Valley,” she said in reference to the RDOS director and MLA for Kaleden.

Waterman has been quoted as saying he was in full support of further studies being conducted to see if Summerland would be a good site for the regional compost facility.

On Monday, Waterman encouraged residents to approach the topic with an open mind.

“Possibly it would improve our present landfill. Perhaps we could be better off with re-jigging the landfill,” he said.

Council will consider the RDOS recommendation at its next regular meeting on Aug. 28.

In her information sheet distributed to the public, Smith wrote that five working groups will be formed at the Aug. 24 meeting.

The groups will focus on traffic/roads, drinking water (water reservoir), fugitive odour and economic concerns.