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Whiby Fm .Pmoo. W.edby. Aprâ 5. 199W. PP 5 FOX SEES RED OVER 'GREN' ISUEmm Whitby urges grsseycling region-wide ByÊ Mike Kowalsld Whitbywat Durham Regzion municipalities to keep their grass at home. Town council last week endorsed a resolution aimed at prohibiting grass clippings from the Region's central composting facility on Garrard Road. Whitby. politicians want regional council to- ask Durharns member munici lities to adopt local «grassc g» prograins and to no longer accept it at.the Garrard Road site. Whitby le the oniy municipa- lity te date to, have discontinued coll ecting grass. clilppinge even though i t has been Rèeon policy for two years.. Homeowners in the vicinity of the composting facility have com- plained ini recent years about odours produced from rotting grass pocse at the site. jAlthough councillor Don Mit- chl moved the motiow seeking regfional assistance, it 'was an angry councillor Dennis Fox who initially condemned Whitby's sis- ter municipalities. FoxWs wrath was prompted by a staff report which noted that while ail area municipalities have endorsed grasscyclinë, Whitby is the 'only one to have put its beliefs into practice. By not collecting grass clip-, pmgs, Whitby expects te save $140>O0 this year, the report adds.. "As a council that's something we should be proud of," said Fox. «But rmn not very happy that such an important initiative ia bemjg ignored by the other muni- cipalities," he said. "It's the policy of the Ontario goenent te, promote grasscy- g and it's the poHc f Dur- hani Region, but y1et Whiby is the only municipality following it." Fox said Whitby residents should not be expected te find other uses for their lawn clip- pinps when their own tewn is te ecpetof the very sanie pro- dutbrought from elsewhere. "The concern I have is that we are the only ones doing it and yet we are the collecting pot for it and. our residents are smelling it," he said. "This request goes back te 1993. Those municipalities have had tume to get their act together.» Councillor Marcel Brunelle, a member of Durham's works com- mittee, said most of the odour j>roblems stemmed from the col- ectio procedure previously used by Pickering. Pickerings system has chane Brunelle said, and notetat the Ontario Ministry of Environment monitors theé facility on a regular basis. "Thie Ministry of Enviromnent licence for that site states that there will be no untoward odours," he said. «Âlthough there were problems ini the past, I think you'Il notice that last sunimer there were fewer- complainte than ini pre- vious ears" Brunelle said both he and Mayor Tom Edwards have raised the issue at regional council, but essentially «municipalities can do as they see fit!' Provincial legislation prohibits compostable materials from land- flI sites, Brunelle explained, and although some municipalities are explornfg recycling .-programni "we are the onfly- ones that are 100 per cent into this. Brunelle said this has created "some red faces» at regional coundil, but -argued that Whitby cannot* impose its wishes on other municipalities. "I would, hate te have Ajax, Pickering or Oshawa telling us what te do. I guess we have to be good neighbours.» cetti explanat ion and m'oved his motion. But Brunelle said the Region may not have the legal authority treuse grass clippns "That may be regional staffs interpretation but it's not ours," reglied Mitchïàl. If there are two interpxre- tations, the one that takes the smell out of Whitby 15 the one te be followed,» he said. "That may be some regi onal bureaucrat's interpretation, but he doesn't live next te it and it stinks." In a subsequent interview, Fox claimed representatives in other municipalities lack the "political will» te s8; et their own prograis in motion. SHe recalled that Whitby coun- ciflors «felt'the heat" from upset homeowners last year but would not back off because of the pro- gram's positive environmental and economical benefits.' "What did people do before recycling?They left it on- their lawns. Perhaps we should cut our lawns a littie more often.» Fox also suggested that if Whitby cannot -lgaly réhibit rnunicipanties should pay a rnonetary penaty for not adopt- 4&rmo'ogdents holave te put up with it (odours),» he said. So "My feeling is if the Region is not iprepared to enforoe it, we shouldt7hink of maybe charging our own levy.» Nîce to Cmone, Homie- to..e, VISIT us VEAR ROUND Open Saturdays & Sundays 9:00 arn to 5:00 pm 1540 Hwy. 7A, West, (905) 985-8424 (just west of the Beer Store) PlORT-FERRYý S .*FREE Parking *FREE..Admission Over 17,000 sqluare feet of great bargains. Antiques, collectibles, crats, woodworking new and used items. PORT PERRY COUNTRY FLEA MARKET.