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Thursday, October 20, 2011 Capital News
NEWS ▼ $43,000 STUDY
CORD approves organic waste management assessment Wade Paterson STAFF REPORTER
The Central Okangaan Regional District board approved a contract for reviewing, assessing and providing options for organic solid waste management in the Central Okanagan. According to Peter Rotheisler, regional waste reduction manager, the assessment will look at all of the organic waste streams
including: yard and garden waste, wood waste, food waste and biosolids, which are the residue from waste water treatment plants. “In order to do this type of assessment, we need to have expertise that we don’t have in house. Specifically, we need people with experience using life cycle assessment models,” said Rotheisler. Of the seven companies that bid for the assess-
ment, SLR Consulting Limited’s bid was determined to be the most favourable. Rotheisler said the time is now for the assessment for a variety of reasons. “One of the reasons is that there are a lot of questions from the public and politicians regarding how we’re going to manage our food waste in the future,” said Rotheisler. “The other aspects
have to do with problems that we’re encountering with our current method for managing some of our solid organic waste materials.” One of those problems is finding a market for clean wood. “There used to be a good market through Tolko, which could use it in their cogeneration facility to generate heat and electricity, but they are under some heavy scrutiny (from the Ministry of Environment) regarding the emissions that facility
is emitting. “They’re worried about the contamination within our clean lumber. Things like paints and adhesives and any material that you may find attached to some of that clean lumber. Even though we do our best to ensure the best quality that we can, there are still things that get through and end up being problematic when they combust the material.” According to Rotheisler, another issue is that the province is looking at changing the organic
matter recycling regulation, which regulates major composting operations and regulates the types of materials that can, and can’t, be composted. “They’re looking at making some changes that may impact some of the things that we currently compost. Some of our current programs are vulnerable to some of these changes and are being put into question.” Rotheisler said that the biggest reason for the assessment is to find solutions for managing food
waste, which is estimated to generate more than 30,000 metric tonnes every year to the Central Okanagan solid waste stream. “Food waste is the main organic solid waste component that we’re not doing anything special with. We’re landfilling it. There are numerous techniques that need to be looked at by combining different organic solid waste materials and seeing if there are any economies of scale there by combining multiple organic waste streams.”
▼ KELOWNA
Free downtown parking pondered Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelowna council is considering free parking downtown in a bid to ease the strain some businesses expect to feel during the major road work planed for Bernard Avenue next year. In accepting a recommendation that the road work be done in three major phases—fall 2012, and spring and fall 2013—council also in-
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structed staff to look at the potential impact of allowing free parking downtown during the construction. “There’s going to be pain (to businesses in the area as a result of the road work),” said Coun. Andre Blanleil. “It’s how you’re going to manage the pain that’s the issue.” Blanleil suggested the free parking plan, saying while there will be a shortterm cost to city parking revenues as a result, overall it will be a win for the city’s downtown core. “Whatever we can do to keep people coming downtown will be a win,” he said.
And he found plenty of support among his council colleagues. Coun. Michele Rule cautioned the free parking should be for customers, not employees of downtown business or construction crews. Rule agreed with the city’s general manager of community sustainability that it is important there be parking turnover to make spaces available for shoppers. Despite earlier indications from city staff that they planned to wait a week before making a recommendation about a timing schedule for the Bernard Avenue work to council, community ser-
vices general manager John Vos presented a report asking council to approve the work schedule at Monday’s meeting. Now that the schedule has been approved, staff will immediately start work to find a design consultant. The $14 million project will replace utilities and services under the street and beautify the above ground streetscape. Local merchants have agreed to pay for 25 per cent of the streetscape work, estimated to be about $1.5 million. In accepting what staff described as their “preSee Parking A5
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