Written By David Gomez
ADELAIDE METCALFE - Residents could eventually regain access to broader waste disposal services at the School Road landfill site, but under a different model than the township has traditionally used.
Council voted, on August 10, to begin establishing a municipal transfer station and environmental depot at the property, following months of study into the landfill’s limited remaining capacity and future costs.
Public Works Manager Coulter Cahill presented four options: expand the existing landfill, permanently close it, establish a transfer station, or continue the current restricted operation.
The landfill stopped accepting non-hazardous waste after a topographic survey found material within buffer areas of its approved final-cover contours. Since those restrictions took effect, Cahill said attendance has fallen substantially, averaging about 4.6 vehicles over the five most recent operating days.
Expanding the landfill was estimated at approximately $1.4 million, while closure and post-closure obligations were estimated at $733,444. Staff instead recommended a transfer station, estimated to require about $17,500 in initial planning and regulatory work.
Under that model, residents could bring municipal solid waste, construction and demolition materials, and leaf and yard waste to the existing site, with materials then transported elsewhere rather than buried there.
The estimated annual operating cost is $48,372 before any tipping-fee revenue.
Councillor Mike Brodie supported the proposal. “I do like the idea of having a transfer station,” he said. “I think we need it in our township.”
Treasurer Johnny Pereira told council the operating cost would be comparable to what the township previously spent when the landfill was fully operational.
Council authorized the use of $17,500 from the 2026 Landfill Post-Closure Reserve to begin the process, with the money to be restored through the 2027 budget. Staff estimate establishing the transfer station could take three to six months.
In other matters, Council also agreed to express interest in providing administrative and financial services to the Middlesex OPP Detachment Board.
CAO Morgan Calvert said the board currently receives administrative support through Middlesex Centre but has been considering a different arrangement because of capacity pressures.
“The township possesses the organizational capacity and expertise necessary to effectively provide administrative and financial support to the detachment board,” Calvert said, describing Adelaide Metcalfe as an additional option that would be “cost-effective” and locally accessible.
If selected, staff would negotiate a service agreement and return it to council for consideration.
On the other hand, a third decision amended the township’s agreement with Humane Society London & Middlesex after the organization advised it could no longer provide municipal bylaw enforcement and proactive animal-control services.
The Humane Society will continue poundkeeping, adoption services, community-cat management and confined stray-dog pickup. Animal-control enforcement will instead move to Middlesex Centre through the township’s existing bylaw-enforcement agreement.
Clerk Michael Barnier said the Humane Society will continue supporting community-cat initiatives in Kerwood, subject to available capacity and funding.
The revised annual Humane Society fee will be $12,000, with dog pickups billed separately. Barnier emphasized that the restructuring “is not necessarily an overall cost savings,” but rather reallocates responsibilities between the two service providers.
