Dufferin County plans to embark on a gasification system to deal with local waste in the next two months, and some councillors are talking seriously about processing Toronto waste for profit at the new facility.

Following one of the most animated debates seen in many months at the county, which included a suspension of the procedural bylaw, councillors passed a motion directing staff to prepare a document to recruit users for the 200-acre site that was to have housed a landfill.

Warden Earl Lennox became passionate during the discussion, stating he felt the county should be processing waste from other municipalities to improve the Dufferin's financial situation.

"A simplistic solution to Dufferin County's long-term financial situation would be to access the billions of dollars being spent to process garbage. I know it is not politically acceptable, but it is the same plastic bottle (being processed) whether the mayor of Toronto or I drink out of it. I have been told that the City of Vaughan is in very good financial shape because of their investment in the Keele Valley landfill site."

The warden's comments were echoed by Orangeville Mayor Drew Brown.

"I would be willing to import garbage," he said. "I would love to be the host municipality and count the money as it came in."

Mayor Brown said the county was in very good position to take action on processing the garbage of other municipalities because Dufferin is the only county in the province with an approved site.

"There's not another municipality in the province as close to finding a gold mine as we are," he said.

While there was no motion arising from these comments, councillors did pass a resolution to move ahead with options for the landfill site.

Both Mono Mayor Keith Thompson, chair of council's Community Development Committee, and Warden Lennox said the county would request proposals from the public with the intent of selecting a proposal for the site at the July county council meeting. The councillors are favouring gasification processes.

The dramatic developments follow years of stagnation with the landfill. The Community Development Committee has heard many proposals over the years but has failed to take any action.

Following a presentation last year by Orthogenics, a local company that promised a zero waste diversion, the Town of Shelburne put forth $50,000 for a pilot project and encouraged the other municipalities to do the same. For many months there was no action by the committee or the individual municipalities.

Then, seemingly without reason, the committee has decided to take action on garbage.

Mayor Thompson, who had not supported previous presentations for garbage processing, told councillors that developing a progressive waste processing facility within Dufferin would put the county on the map.

A motion from the committee recommended the county hire a consultant to draft an expression of interest for options for the site.

Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson said he was really glad to see Mayor Thompson had come on side with the issue, but questioned hiring a consultant to attract the interested parties.

"Can we not write?" he asked. "Have we lost the ability to draft a proposal? Hiring a consultant will only the delay the process another two months because we will have to interview consultants and then make a decision. It will just make things more convoluted."

Mayor. Thompson conceded that the public works department could likely create a proposal to attract interested technologies.

When the motion to hire the consultant was soundly defeated, Mayor Thompson was permitted by the warden to put forward a motion recommending that staff draft an expression of interest in the use of the landfill site. Mayor Crewson said he was happy to see the process finally moving, but noted the county was already aware of the Orthogenics technology and recommended the county pay $50,000 toward a pilot

project for the zero waste

concept to match the Town of Shelburne's contribution.

However, the warden ruled Mayor Crewson's motion as a notice of motion, meaning a vote could not be held until next month's meeting. The warden said he was unimpressed with Peter Turrell or Orthogenics, calling his information fuzzy and inaccurate. He questioned why the county would have to contribute to his pilot project when Southgate was getting a $1.5 million pilot gasification plant that was totally privately supported.

"I don't want to do business with him," he said.

Melancthon Mayor Garry Matthews said he needed to know who Orthogenics' financial backers were before he proceeded, and that question had never been answered.

"The mayor continues to try to push his pet project on us," Mayor Thompson said. "I admire Shelburne, but it is not being done the way it should have been done."

Mayor Thompson went on to say that the county had never gone to the private sector and they needed to see what was out there.

The landfill site is located in East Luther Grand Valley, whose mayor, John Oosterfhof, said the county and the committee have long been stuck on the issue.

"We have had people here who have wanted to study the feasibility but we have always tied their hands. We have had others make presentations but nothing was ever pursued. Every tactic that has been used to bring something to this table always gets shot down," he said.

Council eventually voted on Mayor Thompson's motion directing staff to draft an expression of interest.

The motion was defeated and the warden would not put the Crewson motion to a vote. Before calling a recess the warden urged council to suspend the procedural bylaw and reconsider the Thompson motion.

After the recess, council suspended the bylaw and took another vote on directing staff to draft an expression of interest. The motion passed with Councillor Don MacIver from Amaranth as the lone dissenter.

When Mayor Crewson asked for clarification on the timeline, Warden Lennox stated that it was simple, the interested parties would be considered at the June committee meeting with a decision to be made by council on the best proposal in July.