30 = Terrace Review —— Wednesday, November 20, 1991

R E CY L N G continued from page 1 ~ : . | . :

‘though, that a grant-in-aid to the

tenant would be more effective because there was no guarantee the landlord would pass the saving on to the tenant.

Then came the new business portion of the council meeting, and with it a motion from King, stating clearly that the financial woes of the Skeena Valley Re- cycling Society would be fatal without immediate intervention. A grant of $14,000 was required to pay the society’s rent from June to December. One half of the grant would be repaid to the city by the society no later than Dec. 31, 1992.

Without the grant, King said, Skeena Valley Recycling would be out on the street by the end of the month and the city’s first effort in getting a full-scale recycling centre up and running would be lost.

Alderman Danny . Sheridan questioned King’s motion. He agreed the city would have to invest some money into the recycling system at some point. But was this the right time or the right group?.And on top of that, the recycling commission hadn’t recommended a grant, Why not?

King told Sheridan the idea of a grant had been discussed by the commission, but it wasn’t until after the meeting had been adjourned that they realized the society would be out of business in just a few weeks.

Alderman Darryl! Laurent won- dered aloud, if the city pays the society’s rent to the end of December, what happens in January? The society hopes to be in a better position by then, said King, with a bottle depot and government grants in place.

Mayor Jack Talstra asked King about the organization of the society. It’s a small group, said King, but they plan to expand. They now realize they are going to need some help. .

At this point, Laurent sug- gested King’s motion be tabled

to a Nov. 18 Committee of the Whole meeting to give city aldermen an opportunity to meet with members of the society and advisory commission. The tabling

motion was made by Sheridan.

and alderman Robert Cooper and carried with opposition from King.

On Nov. 18 council, society and the advisory commission met. The final decision left the society ’s fate in limbo until Nov. 25 when council meets again. This will give city aldermen iime to consider the society’s presentation and in the meantime the 13-member recycling com- mission can meet and make a recommendation of their own.

The Nov. 18 mecting saw a full turn-out by council mem- bers, and was also attended by

lan Gordon, Shirley Palahicky

atid Rosemarie Goodwin from the advisory commission, and Randy Grelson and Scott Schoo- nér, who are also members of the commission but principles in the recycling society as well.

_ Schooner told city aldermen that they had first looked at

recycling as a business venture but it soon became apparent the money wasn’t there. Instead, they formed a non-profit society and opened their recycling depot on April 6 of this year with a total sense of optimism. The recyclable material they needed was at hand they believed, and also, it seemed, a viable means of transporting the material south. But, he explained, things just haven’t worked out as well as they had hoped.

So what are the solutions? At the Nov. 18 meeting there was no mention of reorganizing the society, as King had suggested when he made his motion in council. Where King said the sociely was going to open it’s doors, the society’s bylaws cir- culated on Nov. 18 still state: The number of directors shall not be lees than three and not more than five. And, the mem- bership shall be limited to the members of the board of direc- tors. oe But financial matters and pub- lic education were discussed in detail. The public must become recycling conscious, said Schoo- ner, in order to discover the problem is not a matter of the cost of sorting materials but the habit of sorting materials. —

On the financial end of things, Schooner said, they will soon have a bottle depot in place — if they remain in business. He explained that Big River Dis- tributors have offered them the bottle-collection portion of their business. The society would make 20 cents per case in return for the work of sorting and Stacking the bottles. Schooner said the potential revenue had been estimated at $25,000 per year.

Canadian Fibre in Vancouver has offered a solution to the transportation problem. If the society can promise a minimum of 100 tons of cardboard a year, they will install the bailer they need free. Other fund-raising activities in the works, said Schooner, are a bingo and cor- porate sponsorships. According to Schooner, Shell Canada has

already donated $2,500 for a

forklift.

Also, the society has been invited to speak to the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine in December, and something that might come out of that meeting would be tipping fees at the Thornhill land fill. A tipping fee is charge to commercial users; a fee would make it economical for users to sort more of their trash, for recycling, and dump less.

A long-term financial solution, said Schooner, would be to own their own building at a iandfill site. Still, admits Schooner, the cost of recycling may always be higher than revenues, and if the industry is going to survive other sources of funds will eventually have to be found.

The matter of a city grant to the Skeena Valley Recycling Society will come before council next Monday night. The dis- cussion in committee Monday

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indicates there are several options to consider. But as alder- man Ruth Hallock pointed out, an outright grant would not be out of line. The city has done it before, she said, using the

Shames Mountain Ski Corpor-

ation as an example,

And King offered another example of city sponsorship that may also offer direction towards Schooner’s long term solution to

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the high cost of rent. North Coast Metal Recycling special- izes in metals and operates out of a city-owned building on a

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