OttawaMayor Mark Sutcliffe says bidding process will continue for private landfill site in southeast Ottawa as price remains undisclosed.Councillor for area says process so far ‘stinks’ Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The joint venture Taggart Miller Environmental Services Inc. received ministry approval in 2017 for a landfill on Boundary Road near Highway 417 after years of studies and protests. (Felix Desroches/CBC)Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the city will move forward with its bid to buy a private landfill site in southeast Ottawa for an undisclosed price.The announcement followed a more than two-hour meeting behind closed doors on Wednesday where councillors could privately discuss the deal, which is protected by a non-disclosure agreement. “The City of Ottawa will continue its participation in the competitive bidding process,” Sutcliffe announced after the closed-door session.City staff say they will release more details — including the cost — if its bid is successful and the sale closes.”This is an issue of timing, not transparency,” Sutcliffe said.The 192-hectare site, known as the Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre, is owned by Taggart Miller Environmental Services. Located near Highway 417 just south of Amazon’s distribution centre, it has provincial approval to accept up to 450,000 tonnes of waste per year.Process so far ‘stinks,’ councillor saysSutcliffe said no votes were taken during Wednesday’s closed session, except on procedural matters and directions to staff. But he did not directly answer questions about whether the matter must still return to council for a public vote before any prospective sale closes — or whether a council direction to staff would be sufficient to authorize the purchase.”It is a city council decision whether or not to proceed with a transaction,” he said.Osgoode Coun. Isabelle Skalski, whose ward includes the project site, has repeatedly criticized the process as rushed and opaque.”I’ve always hated this process,” she said. “I don’t like the fact that the seller has imposed this kind of strict confidential process on such an important acquisition for the city.”She said that hasn’t changed following Wednesday’s meeting.”Everything about this stinks, unfortunately,” she said.”It is the most difficult position for me to be in right now, is to not be able to talk to residents about it,” Skalski added.Neighbours concerned about wells, trafficCity staff have called the prospective purchase a rare opportunity to gain 30 years of landfill capacity as the existing Trail Road facility near Barrhaven runs out of space.Trail Road has just a decade of life left under a business-as-usual scenario, though changes to Ottawa’s solid waste master plan — including the new three-item garbage limit — could extend that by about six years. The city could add yet another 15 years of capacity if it gets approval to expand the Trail Road facility.Opponents of the sale, including residents in nearby communities such as Carlsbad Springs, have joined Skalski in criticizing the process. The city provided just two weeks’ notice before Wednesday’s vote.Neighbours fought the project for many years before Taggart-Miller received ministry approvals in 2017. Some have expressed concerns about their well water, as well as traffic from trucks serving the dump.But supporters including Sutcliffe argue the site will become a dump no matter what the city does. They argued it will be better off in public hands, since the city can control site planning and operations. The city has already submitted a proposal in the private competition to purchase the site, run by BMO Capital on behalf of the owners. But Sutcliffe and city staff could not explain where, specifically, the city is in the bidding process, again citing the non-disclosure agreement.Miller Waste Systems president Joe Johnson told CBC last week that other qualified parties have expressed interest in the site.Alain Gonthier, the city’s general manager of public works, said on Wednesday that the city does not know who the other bidders are.The sale would be funded by debt and is expected to increase garbage fees in the short term.In the long term, city staff insist the cost will balance out, since the city’s solid waste master plan already included a budget outlay for a waste solution.ABOUT THE AUTHORArthur White-Crummey is a reporter at CBC Ottawa. He has previously worked as a reporter in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature. You can reach him at arthur.white-crummey@cbc.ca.
Bid to buy east end landfill site moves forward after closed-door council meeting
