North Bay City Councillor Chris Mayne hopes that by the end of the summer, the city will have a firm hold on the actual cost of setting up an RV septic dump site.
The old site was at the former Chamber of Commerce building on Seymour Street. Its closure forced recreational vehicles have to travel to neighbouring communities to use septic sites there.
“Right now we have an established one on Patton Street for commercial pump outs which is fine, but the facility doesn’t accommodate RV’s,” said Mayne.
“At one point we’d hoped that private RV parks might be able to fill the need in the community, but that didn’t work out. So for Council to make an informed decision, let’s get the information. What is the cost to provide a facility? And if it can be done for a reasonable cost, I think there will be support from council for it.”
However, Mayne says without an official study, early estimates suggest it could be an expensive proposition.
“There have been discussions around the table that by the time you find a septic connection and install concrete pads, the stainless steel piping, access to water for cleaning, that it can approach between $100,000 and $200,000. And at the end of the day, based on the locations that are viable, if the costs come back that high, what is the actual volume of service and demand in the community? If the demand doesn’t justify the cost, then it’s a decision for council to make.”
There has been some discussion at council over the past few weeks about location and cost, after Adrien Foisy, an RV owner, presented his concerns over the lack of an RV septic dumping station in the city.
See: RV owners seeking a local dumping site
Foisy says he's happy council has agreed to do a study.
“It looks like they’re moving forward on it. What more can we ask? It’s been there for years and a lot of other little communities have it, so it’s a good way to get tourists,” said Foisy.
The RV owner who had threatened to hold a protest, says he’s shelving the idea for the time being.
“I’ve been paying taxes in this city for over 40 years, I support a lot of stuff and we should have that service. We had it before and I’m happy it’s coming back, hopefully.”
Foisy promises to keep pushing until he gets what he wants.
Mayne gives Foisy points for bringing the matter forward.
“I’ll give him full credit for that. Sometimes it sits on the back burner, and unless someone brings it back before council, you do forget about issues. But this is one we can resolve hopefully if we can get some good information brought before council by the Engineering and Environment committee.”
Mayne has asked city staff to prepare a report addressing
- Estimated usage of such facilities if it was provided
- Potential locations for the facility with site-specific costing
- Estimated on-going operational costs
- Recommended user pay option and fees and any other relevant information.
Mayne says he has heard from less than a dozen people concerned about the situation.
“Originally when it was at the Chamber of Commerce site, the intention was that it would accommodate people driving through the area. But in the end their sense was that it was predominately local users, so it didn’t seem to be a big economic benefit to the city. Council will want to know, depending on the cost and the number of users, if it is a reasonable and viable proposal.”
