Mayor Peter Waterman believes members of council should have allowed additional study into the proposed regional compost facility.
At the last municipal council meeting on Oct. 23, council rejected the facility when the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen requested access to the Summerland landfill to conduct tests to determine its suitability for a compost facility.
The vote to reject the proposed facility was six to one, with Waterman the sole member not in favour of axing the proposal.
“You have to have all the information before you can make a decision,” he said.
Since the compost facility was first suggested, Waterman had called for additional information.
He was puzzled by the council decision, since in the past, members of council have also asked for further information on other matters before them.
“This council has consistently sought information before making a decision,” he said. “This is one of the best councils I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
He added that granting access to regional district staff and allowing further studies would not have committed Summerland to approving the facility.
Instead, he said council would have gone through a formal decision-making process, with a public consultation component.
Waterman believes the facility could have been a good opportunity for the community.
He said it was a green initiative which would have controlled methane gas, biosolids, leachate and other problems.
The new facility would have been located 1.2 kilometres from Summerland’s drinking water balancing reservoir. At present, sewage waste and biosolids are deposited 330 metres from the balancing reservoir.
The regional compost facility would remove kitchen waste from the present landfill, he said. It would also eliminate leachate and would control odours.
The proposed facility could have also resulted in improvements to Prairie Valley Road, the road which would have been used by vehicles travelling to and from the compost facility.
“Currently the road is not safe for pedestrians and school children,” he said.
He estimates the value of upgrades to the road would be between $5 million and $7 million.
Now that Summerland is no longer considering the regional compost facility, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is once again searching for a suitable site.