RV owners passing through town will no longer be allowed to dump sewage holding tanks at a local facility.
Town of Minto waste/wastewater foreman Wayne Metzger advised council at its July 22 meeting the public works department has received several complaints of heavy trailer traffic entering the Harriston ball park to unload sewage.
Metzger said it has spread by word of mouth that the local facility is open for free dumping and approximately 60 trailers were reported using the service within the past two weeks.
Mayor George Bridge reported he saw about 20 trailers enter the park for dumping purposes in a two-hour period while attending a ball tournament on a recent Sunday.
“Few municipalities have this service but the ones that do, have locks on them restricting access unless town personnel is available and then they are charged a minimum fee of $10.
“They find that it is not used that often because of staff availability,” states a report from Metzger and pubic works director Brian Hansen.
“The town does not have capacity to accommodate sewage from the travelling public when there is no direct benefit to Minto ratepayers. The impact on the park use and neighbourhood likely exceeds the minimal public relations benefit the town may get from having this available,” the report continues.
The report provided two options for compelling users to pay for the service, either by requiring town staff to open the facility as needed or by installing a system that uses cash or credit card to unlock the dumping station access lid.
However council opted to simply lock up the dumping station and make it available only when the town is hosting campers at the ball diamond facilities.
“I don’t think our ratepayers should be subsidizing people who have RVs or trailers … we’re not gaining anything from it and our ratepayers are paying for it … I say lock it up,” said deputy mayor Terry Fisk.
