The 7 Mile Landfill and Recycling Centre’s (7MLRC) new summer Sunday hours have proven to be unprofitable for the Regional District.
Operations Manager Patrick Donaghy delivered a special report to the board at the Regional District of Mount Waddington Board of Directors meeting on Oct. 17, regarding Sunday attendance.
“Comparison statistics showed a 45 per cent overall increase in weekend visits,” said Donaghy, adding there was an average of 12 extra visits recorded on the 2017 weekends. “It seemed to be that for every two visitors we had on Saturday we’d get one visitor on Sunday.”
Revenue wise, weekend tipping fees increased by $2,797 for the four months the public had access to the landfill on Sundays, meaning the 7MLRC gained approximately $165 each week.
Donaghy also noted the extra cost for funding 7MLRC on Sundays with an Acting Supervisor, Labourer, and a Scale Shack Attendant, was $9,982, which is a difference of $7,185.
The report stated public uptake of the opportunity to access the landfill on Sundays was relatively strong initially, but then trailed off over a period of time to just over 50 per cent of what was encountered at the start of the initiative.
“I should clarify one thing,” said Donaghy. “We were assessing attendance based on weigh tickets generated so actually there were probably more people if they were just dropping off recycling or garden waste, where there is no fee attached to it.”
He also cited the benefits of having greater accessibility to the landfill. “We really do want to try and propose incentives for people to properly dispose of yard waste - a cute flower in your garden can at times be a problem out in the bush.”
Donaghy recommended to the board if they wish to repeat the effort, then they may want to consider limiting Sunday openings to June, July, and August, given the experienced drop off visits witnessed in September.
Port Alice Mayor Jan Allen expressed regret that a board representative from Port McNeill did not attend the Regional District meeting. “As far as I’m concerned, they were the big push to have it opened on Sundays,” she said.
Allen then introduced a motion to table the discussion until Port McNeill could be represented at the next month’s meeting, which was passed by the board.