Faraday implements short term rental waste site passes

February 11, 2025

By Michael Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

At their meeting on Feb. 5, Faraday Township council heard from deputy clerk Sheryl Scott, who proposed charging a fee for short term rental waste site passes, as the township currently offers them at no cost. Council agreed with Scott’s proposal and voted to implement this fee.

Scott submitted her report to council at their Feb. 5 meeting, recommending that they implement a fee for short term rental waste site passes. She said that currently the township offers temporary landfill passes for property owners for short term rentals at not cost, but that other municipalities do charge a fee for these passes. She provided some examples; Algonquin Highlands charges $3 each or 10 for $25 (including recycle and landfill information as well as garbage and recycling bags), Minden Hills at $5 each or 10 for $45 (including a waste management guide including hours and location), Highlands East at $5 each or $10 for $40 (including a clear bag for garbage, blue bag for recycling, paper bag for fibres, recycling guide, landfill hours and location, and a Bear Wise fact sheet), Dysart et al. at $5 each (allowing up to three bags of garbage, unlimited recycling, and $2 per additional bag of garbage).

Scott said that staff was seeking council direction if they wanted to implement a fee for these temporary waste site passes and if so, what they should include.

Mayor Dennis Purcell introduced Scott’s report at the Feb. 5 meeting and CAO Bernice Crocker told council she thought it was a great idea. Scott told council that it had been brought to her attention that there’s been excessive use of the waste site by the short-term rentals and that’s why she looked to see what other municipalities were charging.

“So I reached out to them trying to find ways to cut costs for our waste site or extend its lifetime,” she says.

Crocker said they were trying to prevent garbage and recycling being thrown away together at the landfill.

“And this is a way of helping them when we’ll have a big baggie that’ll have a clear garbage bag, recycling info, a one-time permit use, it’ll have a brown paper bag. It’s to get them recycling properly and just helping our site out,” she says.

After discussing it, council looked at which option to choose from the ones that Scott had investigated, and ultimately chose to go with Highlands East template and fee structure.

Council then resolved to provide direction to Scott to implement the temporary waste site passes and what they should include and voted to go with Scott’s recommendation in her report.

Scott told Bancroft This Week that she was just trying to come up with ideas on how they can expand the lifespan of their landfill site or operate it more efficiently.

“Faraday Township’s current cell number four at the landfill site is expected to reach capacity by the beginning of 2030 based on current usage. It was brought to my attention the amount of waste being brought to the site from the short-term rental properties and although we do not have to do the same as every other township, it is common practice that there be a fee for the temporary passes. I will be ordering the bags to be included in the cottage kits and hope to have the system implemented by the end of February,” she says. “It is also my hope through the implementation of this system that all residents be diligent with their recycling.”