Green waste tops list of community concerns

The second of two town halls organized by the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) to discuss the curbside trash pickup system attracted a larger crowd of around 25 people either in person or on Zoom then the first town hall that just 17 people attended, five of whom were PRCAC board members or media. The meetings were held at the Gulf Road community center on October 16 and October 22.

The point of the town halls was to discuss the current curbside trash program as the contract between Whatcom County and the provider, Cando Recycling and Disposal, is coming up for renewal. The current term ends on December 31, 2022; the original contract has been extended four times since the original contract was signed in 2018. The town hall meetings were scheduled during PRCAC’s regular meeting in September.

During that meeting, PRCAC chair Alli Calder read an email from county environmental specialist Jennifer Hayden who advised the committee that the health department would not be sending a representative to the meetings. Hayden wrote, “I shall not be available to attend a townhall meeting. The solid waste system that was implemented to serve Point Roberts followed two years of public process including county council’s decision. The county is committed to support the system which provides a high level of service to residents at a relatively low cost.” Calder had expressed surprise, saying it was strange given that it was the county that suggested gathering input.

Calder was asked at the beginning of the first town hall meeting who in the county had requested input from the community or the committee regarding the curbside program. She replied that it had been requested by county executive Satpal Sidhu who had forwarded a complaint letter he had received from a local resident who had complained about the green waste program that was held in the summer. The complaint was lodged by Heidi Baxter, an outspoken opponent of the current system and called upon the county to cancel the contract with Cando, asserting that the company had failed to live up to the contract. Sidhu had forwarded Baxter’s complaint with a one-sentence email:

“Alison. Please share this PRCAC for discussion in your future meetings. Thanks.”

Calder said the committee had discussed the email “and decided that based on Satpal’s request to discuss it, the best way to discuss it was to actually do outreach to the community to find out what the community wants.” Other than the one complaint email, Calder said PRCAC had only received one other email regarding the curb side program which was generally in favor of the program but called for improvements to be made.

Whatever input is generated by the town hall meetings, it’s not clear that either the health department or the county executive is interested in reviewing the program. The executive’s spokesperson, Jed Holmes, was asked by the All Point Bulletin if the executive had requested a community review of the curbside program. In a reply dated October 14, Holmes wrote:

“To respond to your question about whether the County requested special meetings about garbage collection, the answer is no, it did not. There is no plan to have any special, extraordinary review of the Cando contract.

“This spring the County Health Department did team up with Cando Recycling and Disposal to temporarily offer free green waste disposal for residents and property owners in the community due to the extraordinary circumstances of the situation as long-absent property owners returned to Point Roberts. That was a one-time arrangement, and something agreed upon by Cando and the County.

“Executive Sidhu sometimes makes reference to the lengthy discussions surrounding the County’s approval of the Cando contract as an example of the challenges reaching consensus among Point Roberts residents. However, such references should not [be] misconstrued as an invitation to start an effort to engage in a special review of the contract ahead of the ordinary schedule for contract review and renewal.”

The First Town Hall

Calder had mentioned at the start of the first meeting that people tended to fall into one of three camps; those in favor of the current system, those who wanted to see improvements to the system and those who were fully opposed to it. That became crystal clear as attendees began to talk. First to speak was permanent resident Dee Gough who said she fully supported Cando and felt no sympathy with people who were upset with the green waste program. “You shouldn’t have that much green waste if you had taken care of your property during the pandemic.” Pat Harper also expressed support for the current system. Brian Miller spoke against the program, saying he’s lived in Point Roberts for almost 30 years. Prior to the system being implemented in 2018, he used to self-haul to the transfer station. “Since that system has been in place, I’ve dumped less than six cans of garbage so these cans are costing me about $100 a can.” He called for a referendum to ask people if they want the program and said everyone he’s spoken to is against the system.

Gough later addressed his comments objecting to people claiming to represent the community, asking if the community is against the system, why aren’t they here?

Louise Cassidy said, “What I’m hearing from people is they want a community-based service,” adding composting would be welcome. Samantha Scholefield admitted, “I’m probably known as one of the anti-garbage people” and called for lowering the service level from 26 cans to 12 cans annually. “If we set the minimum high, we are not incentivizing the people to reduce their garbage. We have to do better.” Susie Black, attending by Zoom, would like to have a portion of the 26 cans be able to take to the dump without charge.

The Second Town Hall

While many of the issues mentioned in the first meeting came up in the second, such as cost, minimum service levels, unfairness to part time residents, etc., the issue of green waste occupied much of the time in the second meeting. “What I am hearing from people is that a main concern is dealing with our green waste. If there is a way to work with the company to do something where out of your 26 cans you could make a choice to put out bags of green waste,” said PRCAC chair Allison Calder, adding this would be a great way for the community to come together. “I think we’re finding as a community that we’re coming together, we’re compromising, coming into the middle and finding solutions that work,” she said.

Barbara Armstrong discussed the garden club’s work to develop a community site for green waste, adding that they were in the process of seeking grants and had identified a local farmer willing to take green waste.

A number of people spoke about the green waste program that operated for six weeks during the summer, a collaboration between Cando and the county health department. “The green waste program was a debacle,” said Leigh Moorhouse. Problems included an apparent lack of capacity and drop off times being cut without notice (see sidebar).

Annelle Norman read out the letter first mentioned in the first meeting that had been sent to PRCAC who had then forwarded it to Cando and the county. Written by Point Roberts Taxpayer Association chair Mark Robbins, it read, in part, “Overall, I am satisfied with the ‘new’ system of universal mandatory curbside trash and recycling collection in terms of both service and cost. In my experience, Cando’s performance has been good, with one glaring and serious exception … I did not mind so much when Cando advised customers we would have to hold our recyclables for two weeks while they repaired their recycling truck – not ideal, but acceptable. I highly object to their performance the next time their truck broke down and they took the decision to collect recyclables and put them in the landfill. This should not have happened; WCHD (Whatcom County Health Department) should not have been (apparently) oblivious and unconcerned by this egregious behavior; and I request that PRCAC register its objections so that it never occurs again. I’m not sure who is more blameworthy: Cando or WCHD.” He also questioned why higher revenues hadn’t allowed Cando to build greater redundancy into its system.

Robbins also expressed dismay for the response his letter generated from Jennifer Hayden, the county environmental health supervisor. “The overall impression is that the county’s response is just ‘no, we’re not open to improving the program.’ I’m just really discouraged by the Whatcom County health department’s general attitude,” Robbins said, adding he thought that maybe the way forward is to work together with Cando.

PRCAC vice-chair Bill Zidel was assigned to be the liaison between the committee and Cando to work together to see what improvements could be made to the service.

PRCAC intends to prepare recommendations based on the emails and comments made by attendees at the town hall meetings at its next regularly scheduled meeting on November 17.