Seniors, Regional landfill, Fall Fair well hot topics at recent PRRD meeting
South Peace to work with SONS on seniors housing issues
With the waiting lists for Seniors to get into facilities in Fort St. John growing, Save Our Northern Seniors president Margaret Little is determined to get the word out, and find support for building more seniors housing.
SONS mandate has always been to advocate and lobby for facilities, provide current and reliable information, and pursue all avenues of support for our community both rural and urban, said Little. Part of that is keeping track of the number of people waiting to get into facilities.
The list of those waiting to get into Peace Villa, for example, doesn’t just include local seniors, but is a list that is open to seniors throughout the province, says Little. Most seniors want to stay in their own homes, and their own communities, but the local seniors who are on the waiting list for Peace Villa are juggling for beds with seniors from other parts of British Columbia.
While there have been some recent successes, such as the new hospital in Dawson Creek and the proposed 115-unit seniors independent-living complex in downtown Fort St. John, there’s still a long way to go.
“Seniors have to balance many issues such as food, medicine, transportation, increased mortgage rates, as well as a high cost of rent. There needs to be access to accessible, appropriate, and affordable housing supports to navigate the housing system,” she said.
Social supports tied to housing are also needed to make it possible for seniors to live well and remain in their own homes longer.
“We need the ability to age in place, without the fear of becoming homeless,” Little said. “Many seniors are faced with uncertainty created by increased mortgages, cost of living, and no place for them to go in their so-called golden years.”
As the population ages, there will be more demand for services. Although northeastern BC’s population is considered young, more and more seniors are coming to the area, returning home to be with their families.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that your loved one will have to leave the community and their family to go to another facility,” Little said. “If we don’t have our local facilities, our loved ones will have to go someplace else.”
Our local governments have been working hard to find solutions for seniors, and it’s amazing what’s happening, Little says. But we must keep going.
“We have to have all our elected representatives continue to lobby, long and hard, in all venues for changes, more facilities, funding, and support for our loved ones. We need to work together in our communities to establish a table for sharing information that brings all parties together in the same room,” she said. “Then work from our successes, find our challenges and find some solutions.”
Area E Director Dan Rose offered to come to the North Peace to talk about some of the South Peace’s successes with their Aging in Place program, currently running in part of the South Peace.
“We've partnered with one municipality so far and and worked out some kinks on on the difference between the rural program and and the in-town program,” Rose said.
“We'd love to get together and talk to the folks up here, show them what we've learned and see if there's a way, to move it into the North Peace as well.”
Rose added that one of the things they have discovered in the South Peace is that it can’t work with just volunteers, there must be a business model in order to maintain a proper standard of care.
Fort St. John Director Lilia Hansen praised Little’s efforts and added that she’s looking forward to the provincial government’s promise of a third pod at Peace Villa. One item that Hansen thinks should be added to the third pod, when it’s built is a kitchen.
“Because right now, the food for the seniors at Peace Villa is being prepared inside of the hospital,” Hansen said. “The food is being made with care and nourishing ingredients. However, it takes a while get from the main building of the hospital over to Peace Villa, and I'm hearing that even with strong attempts to make sure it gets there as warm as possible, it's not always possible.”
Jordan Kealy, Area B Director says his father-in-law is on the waiting list for Peace Villa, and he’d also like to help find solutions for seniors.
“I believe we have to have a made in the Peace plan where all stakeholders are from all walks of life are included, and they can come together to formulate a plan for our future,” said Little.
“We look forward to future networking times so we can provide for our loved ones.”
No viable alternative to flaring landfill gases
In 2014, a Landfill Gas (LFG) collection and control system was installed at the North Peace Regional Landfill, following the 2008 implementation of the Landfill Gas Regulation by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. The collection of methane from the landfill earned Greenhouse Gas credits to offset the Peace River Regional District’s carbon footprint.
An LFG system consists of a collection wellfield, made up of vertical wells and horizontal trenches for LFG collection; and main LFG header piping and branch piping connections to wells, trenches, and leachate system cleanouts. In more sophisticated systems that recover landfill gas, the recovered methane can be converted into electrical energy. In the case of the North Peace Regional Landfill, the gas is flared off, transforming the methane into CO2 and water.
Since the collection system was installed, it has been operated through a contract which provides operation and scheduled maintenance; technical support and trouble shooting; and data acquisition and reporting.
The current operating contact is held by GHD Limited and expires on February 29, 2024. In a report to the Regional District board, the Solid Waste Manager recommended that the three-year contract to operate the system be awarded to GHD Limited, the only company to submit a proposal. The cost of the proposal over the three-year period is $294,174. The individual annual costs of the proposal are $96,422 for 2024; $97,586 for 2025; and $100,166 for 2026. This is an increase of 32 per cent from the previous contract.
Area E Director Dan Rose characterized the system as the gift that keeps on giving, as costs to operate and maintain the system keep growing.
“I remember when it cost $30,000 to maintain, and that wasn’t that long ago,” said Rose.
“There’s never been a viable alternative to flaring the stuff off, and it’s ridiculous that we’re spending this kind of money on something that’s getting blown up into the air.”
Board chair Brad Sperling agreed. “We’ve spent millions of dollars putting this piping in. We don’t have this at Bessborough because we don’t dump enough garbage there, but at the North Peace landfill, because we dump over X amount of garbage, we have to have these collection systems.”
“It’s ludicrous and we sit there and flare it off.”
The recommendation to award the contract to GHD Limited was passed.
Furor over Fall Fair well unnecessary: Goodings
Since 2002, the well at the North Peace Fall Fair Grounds has provided the water necessary to continue the Fall Fair, according to Karen Goodings, a longtime member of the North Peace Fall Fair Society. The drilling of the well, allowed a washroom building to be constructed and improved cleanliness for both humans and livestock at the Fair.
“Prior to building the present washrooms, we had outhouses scattered around the grounds. Cleanliness was a bottle of cleaner strapped to the wall of the outhouse,” Goodings said in a letter to the Peace River Regional District’s board of directors meeting on Friday. “The outhouses were a chore to keep clean, and they were very stinky.”
The Fall Fair Society had an opportunity to access a Federal grant to the current washrooms. In order to have flush toilets, a lagoon was built according to health regulations and a well was drilled Goodings wrote.
Both the washrooms and well made a tremendous difference to Fall Fair attendees. People would walk the length of the grounds to use the washrooms instead of the outhouses. Washing hands has been touted as one of the most important tools in disease prevention.
Which is why Goodings was concerned when she learned of the concerns surrounding the well, and the study that was commissioned by the PRRD to investigate deficiencies in the well’s construction, and the potability of the water.
The Tetra Tech investigation into the well at the North Peace Fall Fair grounds appears to have come about when, in 2021, the PRRD started looking for an alternate bulk water source for Rose Prairie residents. Trucking water from Fort St. John is costly, and residents hoped to find a bulk source closer to home. At the same time, the Fall Fair Society expressed an interest in building an addition onto the Adeline Kelly building to house a commercial kitchen.
Subsequent investigations revealed that there were structural and building code issues that prevented the addition. Several other buildings at the fair grounds required urgent upgrades. In anticipation of the addition to the Adeline Kelly building, and the viability of the well as a bulk water source, a water analysis was carried out.
According to the Tetra Tech report, the well was improperly constructed by current industry standards, which could lead to contamination from the surface. The analysis also showed that manganese levels in the water exceeded drinking water guidelines.
However, Goodings maintains that the well was never intended to be used for drinking or cooking.
“The purposes are for flushing toilets, washing hands and providing water for the livestock.”
“This well has improved the cleanliness experience to the Fall Fair goers. It has watered and washed the livestock. The well analysis did not show any extreme concerns with mineral content,” Goodings wrote. Until now, there had been no concerns expressed about contamination, although she said that she supports any improvements that can be made to protect the well from outside contamination.
“The well was drilled to supply the water necessary for the livestock and to improve the cleanliness for the participants. It will continue to do this for the foreseeable future, if common sense is allowed to prevail.”