
By Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
East Zorra-Tavistock (EZT) council has voted in favour of closing a sewage-dumping station in the parking lot at Queen’s Park in Tavistock, but the lack of information as to why the decision was made has some people asking questions.
“In response to negative feedback from users of the newly installed spray pad in Queen’s Park, township staff have reviewed the ongoing viability of the dumping station in Queen’s Park,” said a report from community and recreation services manager Will Jaques.
The site is utilized by residents with recreational vehicles as a site to clean out their septic systems.
Deputy Mayor Brad Smith, an avid RVer himself, said the service is offered to residents at a minimal cost and is supplied at a minimal cost by the township.
“I don’t see the issue leaving it where it is. Yes, I can go to Woodstock and dump there for free, but I can’t flush out my system and, for a non-RVer, you have no idea what I am talking about but there is no water available in Woodstock,” he said.
Smith also took issue with the alleged complaint of a foul smell coming from the station.
“We built that spray pad next to a (sewage) lagoon and next to a feed mill, so the smell would be minimal at best. Being next to the lagoon, it is going to smell at certain times; it’s just something that is there. I don’t know if the smell would be an issue.”
Smith added he has waited in line at provincial parks for up to three hours to utilize sewage facilities upon leaving.
“To me, this is a service we have available and I don’t see the need to take it out. I think it’s just another service we can provide our constituents. Lastly, a lot more people are using their RVs not just for going camping, but for family visits if the RV is parked at their house. Friends come over and you want to be able to dump it out at the end of their visit.”
The motion to decommission the depot was passed by a vote of 6-1 at last week’s EZT council meeting with Smith the only member of council voting against it.
Mayor Phil Schaefer asked Jaques if the Tavistock Agricultural Society utilized the depot during the fair weekend in September since some employees do camp onsite with RVs.
“I can’t speak to that,” said Jaques. “I don’t have any direct information on whether (the ag. society) provided specific dumps to that from the record we have. Very good question, I don’t know. It would be maybe some of the carnival workers you are suggesting. I don’t know the answer to that.”
Any information that may have shed some light on how the depot wound up at the current site has been destroyed.
“The original costs for the dumping station were built into the overall costs of the pavilion. As financial records are only required to be retained for seven years, copies of any actual invoices or financing receipts are no longer available,” Jaques said in an email this week.
Schaefer also asked what would be needed to get approval from Oxford County to keep the depot in operation. Jaques said the county is in charge of everything relating to sewage and wastewater, but he added there is next to no paper trail concerning how the depot even came to be.
“The reality is the township is already in an area where, frankly, we aren’t authorized to be. Sanitary and sewage-related matters are an upper-tier responsibility of the County of Oxford. We have little to no records on the installation of this system and, further to that, there are many regulations and pieces of legislation that are involved with sanitary systems which we have no record of ever having any sort of a permit for.”
EZT decided to stop allowing overnight camping at the park two years ago, something that went on for years to accommodate campers during fastball tournaments and other events. It was discovered the necessary insurance for camping did not exist, so the service was removed.
Coun. Steven Van Wyk asked how many complaints the township was aware of regarding the smell from people utilizing the site. Jaques said he did not have an exact number.
“Me, personally, I heard from a couple, just to be very clear, but it’s still the nature of the complaint there. Again, no it’s not hundreds of people, but when you hear that, when you look at the situation, sometimes numbers don’t necessarily need to be there for it to happen.”
The dumping station was installed when the Queen’s Park pavilion was built in 2013 and the vote ensures it will be decommissioned in the spring. Anyone dumping sewage was charged a fee of $10.
Tavistock resident Tom Murray, an avid RVer, understands the depot will be gone but would like to know why.
“I said to everyone else I’ve talked to, if it wasn't there, the 33 of us who used it 44 times, it does not justify having it. I get that. But, if it’s there and working, why are we taking it out? My fear is, and I’ve seen it when we lived on the farm, people drive down the back roads and they pull the (sewage) plug in the ditch.”
Murray sold his farm in 2015 and now lives in Tavistock but added he’s seen people dump their sewage several times over the years.
“For some reason, (the township) wants it gone and I think there’s a missing part. If two people complained, they would not change any rule for anything else.”
That missing part could be the fact the county, which is in charge of all things wastewater and sewage, had no record of Tavistock asking for the depot let alone having it built and operational.
“A staff member told me last week they were contacted by someone at the township,” said Tom Ford, the county’s manager of water and wastewater services. “It’s the first we’ve learned of it … so there are no records here.”
He added if the township had asked for the site before it was constructed, the answer would have been no.
“There is no provision for receiving stations because there is a county approved policy for hauled waste and in (it), there are only two locations. That’s Woodstock’s wastewater treatment plant and the Ingersoll wastewater treatment plant.”
Ford explained the county’s sewage bylaw also does not allow for a receiving station to be built. The Gazette asked Ford if it would be safe to say the facility was operating illegally.
“It’s not a stretch. The ministry of environment would not know there would be a discharge location in a park in Tavistock. For good reason, it shouldn’t be there because of odour and also the possibility of other residents using the park for other purposes who might come in contact with waste if it's spilled or not looked after.”
Murray reached out to Mayor Phil Schaefer and explained their conversation was disappointing. He also emailed Tavistock councillors Steven Van Wyk and Scott Zehr but didn’t get a reply.
“Phil was the only one who responded and he gave his very short answer, and I responded but heard nothing back. It’s a done deal, bang, period, too bad. He told me it’s a poor location and it shouldn’t be in a park. What is a good location? I don’t know.”
The Gazette reached out to the township to see what it would cost to decommission the site, but there was no reply by press time. We also asked if the depot was paid for by the township or through fundraising by residents, but that question hasn’t been answered.
“I don’t know what decommissioning costs or means, but if something is working and you are going to shut it down, there is a cost to that. I question why we need to shut something down that works,” added Murray.
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