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Town of BWG will be looking at sites for a new snow storage facility

A study will look at location, design and costs of a new 'snow dump’
2019-02-01-snow plow2
A plow in action clearing snow along a road in BWG. Jenni Dunning/BradfordToday

In their virtual meeting on Tuesday night, BWG town councillors approved a $60,000 study to “determine feasible locations as well as provide a cost estimate” for a new snow management facility.

For the past 10 years, the town has cleared roads of snow and piled the snow in windrows; when the piles get too high, block sidewalks or sightlines at intersections, the snow is removed and dumped on town-owned land located at 2244 Line 8.

There are a number of reasons why the ‘snow dump’ on Line 8 is no longer adequate, Council was told.

Rapid urban growth has meant that the 43 metre by 200 metre site is approaching capacity. There are also environmental concerns: the current snow dump is located in a wooded wetland, close to an area regulated by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Area, which means that road salt contamination is a major concern.

Since 2016, the town has been aware that it needs a snow management facility that includes better onsite monitoring and controls, to prevent road salt contamination. “There is currently no such facility within the town that controls the amount of contaminants and chlorides attributed to road salts from entering the surrounding environment,” the staff report noted.

The current facility has another challenge. First purchased by the municipality in 1950, the lands were reportedly used as a landfill site until 1960 – raising questions as to what kind of contaminants and leachate might be in the soils.

The study approved by Council will evaluate three town-owned properties as possible snow storage sites, and look at the design features needed to meet Ministry of Environment guidelines.

Those guidelines include year-round access for heavy truck traffic; separation from residential areas to reduce noise pollution; a need for buffering or screening to reduce the visual impact; and protection of nearby watercourses and groundwater from possible contamination. That could require berms and dykes, depending on the nature of soils and slope of the land.

As the report noted, “care should be taken in site selection that deposited snow will not seriously obstruct natural drainage patterns, and that drainage from the site will not adversely affect adjoining property.”

There is also a warning, that “municipal sanitary landfill sites should not be used for snow disposal, because the addition of moisture may significantly accelerate the movement and increase the volume of leachate production.”

In addition to the existing site, which staff acknowledged will need “significant enhancements” to be developed as a designated snow management facility, the consultant will be asked to evaluate a portion of the Water Pollution Control Plant property, at 225 Dissette St.

Those lands, just east of the sewage treatment plant, have already been built up as part of the Horlings Drainage Scheme, but are located in an area regulated by the LSRCA, close to the Holland River – and would require the trucks carrying the snow to cross the Metrolinx tracks to access the property.

A third property, used as a parking lot during the summer months, was also suggested.

“I think it is a great report,” said Coun. Mark Contois, asking if it would be possible to install some kind of liner or filtration system, to continue using the current property on Line 8, despite its status as a former municipal landfill.

Coun. Gary Lamb was able to provide some background, and reassurance. Lamb noted that when the Bradford Public Utilities Commission wanted to commission a well in the vicinity, they ran into the same landfill restrictions – but testing of the site found only ash, and no evidence of trash or leachate.

“It was more like a stump dump than anything else,” Lamb said.

Staff indicated that they would search the records for more information.

Mayor Rob Keffer worried about costs, especially if the town has to go through a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment  for a site, “with the different agencies that will have to approve.” He expressed a hope that the consultant would be able to provide “good bang for the buck” in making recommendations.

“I think it’s a matter of getting the right information in the tender document, to get the right consultant,” he said.

The study will not impact this winter’s snow removal and storage; the funding for the study is proposed for consideration in the 2021 budget.

 

 


Miriam King

About the Author: Miriam King

Miriam King is a journalist and photographer with Bradford Today, covering news and events in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil.
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