During Tuesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Perth resident John Clement presented a request to town council from 18 citizens regarding Perth’s compost. This group pointed out that Perth gathers compost, processes it, but it is not returned to the community. They requested that the compost be made available for public use, as it had been in the past. Their letter stated that the compost “is not available to the public, due to the finding of a needle in the compost, years ago, and concern of liability issues.”
Mayor Fenik said that he is not in favour of this, and pointed out that the process they have now doesn’t filter out what would need to be filtered before it’s offered to the public.
Clement pointed out that the new pump track at Conlon Farm has a sign warning “use at your own risk,” and asked why this same strategy couldn’t apply to adults wishing to use compost. “This compost is highly rated; it’s well done.”
Councillor Judy Brown asked Grant Machan, Director of Environmental Services, about past compost distribution. He informed council that it was given away one day a year, during the long weekend in May, “approximately 120 vehicle trips” which he estimates was about 400 tonnes. He pointed out that the compost is used by the town in the creation of earth layers at the landfill site.
“I’d have a problem if it wasn’t being used,” said Councillor Brown, “but it’s being used.”
Council declined to make a motion to offer compost to the community.
Article by Janelle Labelle
