News Release
Claims Against Municipality Unfounded
(Tuesday, August 29/2000)-- Claims by the operator of a local tourist inn that the Halifax Regional Municipality was allowing garbage and other waste materials to be dumped on municipally-owned property near his establishment are erroneous.
David MacDonald, president of the King Edward Inn Incorporated, claimed in correspondence to HRM that the municipality failed to respond to his frequent calls to clean-up "property owned by the city on the west side of the building, the addresses 2412,14,18,20 Agricola Street."
Mayor Walter Fitzgerald requested staff to look into Mr. MacDonald's claims and it was found that the property in question is privately-owned. In fact, municipal records show that there is no HRM land abutting Civic Number 5780 West Street (the King Edward Inn), nor any in the area, with the exception of the Fire Station on West Street, which is some distance from the tourist inn.
It was further revealed that the tenants of the property had been advised several times by Solid Waste officials that they were not following municipal guidelines when disposing of their garbage and solid waste. HRM is not responsible for the removal of waste on private property.
Mayor Fitzgerald has asked both the Solid Waste and By-law Enforcement Divisions to meet with Mr. MacDonald and clarify the situation. Also, the Mayor asked both divisions to contact the owners of the property in question to address the waste issue.
"I understand that we have an immediate solution to the problem and that staff is looking at new procedures to prevent this from happening in the future. No matter who owns the land, there was a problem there and we want it fixed," the Mayor said.
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John O'Brien
Corporate Communications Officer
(902) 490-6531
