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Kelowna  

Long line to the dump

The long wait at the Glenmore landfill to dump off soil waste is driving some residents bonkers.

A local business owner who uses the landfill on a regular basis says lineups are almost an hour long, despite the installation of two new scales at the end of last year.

The man, who did not wish to be named, says it's frustrating to have two scales out of order and watch everyone file into one lineup.

However, soil waste supervisor for the City of Kelowna Scott Hoekstra says the scales aren’t in operation because they aren’t in working order yet.

“We needed to do extra work on the concrete pads and the swing arm,” he explained.

The new scales will be an automated system and available to commercial haulers who have an account in good standing with the City of Kelowna.

“We need to conclude beta testing on the scales before we roll it out to the commercial haulers,” Hoekstra said. “We have all the infrastructure put in and we are working out the bugs.”

Currently, only one commercial hauler who brings the city’s garbage to the landfill is testing the scales.

“This allows us to do the beta testing for the billing system in the background. Right now, there are no internal dollars with this hauler so we are able to test it without any billing issues,” said Hoekstra.

The city is looking at an application process for five commercial haulers to test the system, before it is fully rolled out to others in order to avoid any mishaps.

Once the soft roll out is complete there will be two scales entering the landfill and two exiting. Right now there are only two scales for everyone, but once the additional scales are working they will be available to commercial card holders.

Hoekstra says the the two new scales will hopefully split the line significantly, although he has his doubts the wait times are currently an hour long.

“We have had some long lineups, especially on weekends, maybe about 20 to 25 minutes long,” he said.

It is estimated the scales will be fully operational by the end of June. The scales were built as part of a larger renovation that saw a new administration building developed on site.

This isn’t the first time residents have complained about the line up at the landfill either. Before the renovation and new road access to the landfill Glenmore Drive was congested with traffic waiting to dump waste.



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