City Scope update: You owe us an explanation, Joe and Steve

In February, two levels of government doled out millions of dollars in Building Canada infrastructure funding and St. Thomas was shut out.
There was no shortage of cash to lavish on the rest of Elgin. In fact, Aylmer, Bayham, Dutton/Dunwich, Malahide, Southwold and the county itself hit paydirt on projects ranging from road and sewer maintenance to facility upgrades.
The exclusion of St. Thomas from the funding beneficiaries had council, city staff, Police Chief Bill Lynch and the rest of the St. Thomas Police Service scratching their heads.
You see the provincial and federal dollars were pegged for construction of a badly-needed police headquarters which, when completed, would have eased the burden somewhat on the strained courts that share the Colin McGregor Justice Building.

Trash, trains and Talbotville

Ian McCallum

Posted by Ian:
One year ago, on May 17, in the St. Thomas Times-Journal, I dedicated a considerable portion of my weekly City Scope column to an interesting speculative exercise. I am reprising that column, and a follow-up response from a key City of Toronto manager, in the belief there are new developments with the property in question located south of Talbotville. Here is the initial observation …

Three intriguing tales of trash, trains and Talbotville have entwined themselves over the past month to the point you would swear they spawned from the same source.
Follow carefully as City Scope sifts through the facts for a common thread.
As reported in yesterday’s T-J, the Green Lane Environmental Group, owned in part by Bob McCaig, sold its waste collection, recycling and materials recovery business to BFI Canada Inc., in a move effective May 1.

St. Thomas council noted for what it didn’t do

Ian McCallum

A body of elected representatives is most often judged by what it does. In the case of city council, one of its most prudent decisions to date this year was what it didn’t do.
Instead of endorsing a resolution from the Canadian Auto Workers which in part requires the purchase of municipal goods and services “with the highest possible level” of Canadian content, council sought input from city staff.
A wise decision.

Economic meltdown killing recycling

Posted by Ian:

St. Thomas has more than its share of waste management issues since BFI Canada took over the contract from Green Lane Environmental one year ago. Not the least of which is a strict adherance to how much in the way of recyclables are picked up each week in blue boxes and green composters. As a result the city’s diversion rate from landfill is dropping. Is this a forerunner of things to come during tough economic times as documented in The Business Insider?

Jay Yarow|Mar. 12, 2009, 9:21 AM|comment

The global economic meltdown and a shift in commodity prices are killing the market for recycled goods. A ton of copper scrap now sells for $3,000, down from more than $8,000 in 2007, tin now sells for $5 a pound, down from $300. Paper is down 80%, reports the New York Times. The prices of plastic bottles have fallen off a cliff too.

Recycling plants in the United States and China are facing massive losses. SA Recycling in the United States took a $10 million loss. China which imports more trash than anywhere in the world is now accepting less because it doesn’t make as much money from trash now. The result is that fewer items will be recycled, and more municipalities will cut back back on recycling programs once they start losing money on them.

The insightful tale of two hours

Ian McCallum

Talk about lights out.
It appears the powers to be at city hall were totally unaware of Earth Hour, to be observed this evening, until T-J reporter Kyle Rea contacted the mayor’s office on Monday of this week.
After that phone call, the city scrambled into action and registered Tuesday for the world-wide event.
The observance “slipped under the radar,” admitted Mayor Cliff Barwick to our erstwhile reporter.

Waste management ambiguities prove odoriferous

Ian McCallum

Difficult to predict what will prove more odoriferous, dealing with
the city’s current waste management agreement — a “contract of
contradictions” — or the wall of silence surrounding the hiring of
the city’s first waste management coordinator.
The existing contract between the city and BFI Canada Inc., dates
back to the days of Bob McCaig and the Green Lane Environmental Group and was signed in 1994.