Woofa-Roo Pet Festival celebrates 10th anniversary

By Fred Groves

Dogs come in many shapes and sizes and for those who attended this year’s Woof-A-Roo Pet Fest – abilities as well.

The St. John’s Ambulance Therapeutic Dog Program was in attendance at the tenth annual festival, held last Saturday and Sunday at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg.

“We acknowledge that our dogs are friendly, and they give therapeutic support to others,” said Sarah Curtis who was proud to have her special dog Peach join her as part of the dog program.

The dogs must be of a gentle temperament, well-groomed and healthy.

According to Denise Stanton they often go to hospitals, long care facilities and schools.

“It helps students at exam times. It lowers their stress levels,” said Stanton who brought along Bentley.

The third member of the St. John’s team was Jen Wright and her Great Dane Ginger, while one of the largest dogs at this year’s event, was calm and polite when festival goers reached out to pet her.

Woof-a-Roo was once again an opportunity for pet owners and pet lovers to see just what the dogs, and even a team of horses could do.

Minty of the Border City Barkers Club, which specializes in agility courses, was one of the best and the three-year-old Collie had no problem clearing a four-foot high pole fence.

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By Ron Giofu

Town council has endorsed the concept of regional waste collection.

Despite some with additional questions and concerns, town council members agreed to at least explore the concept of regionalization as it pertains to waste disposal and organic waste disposal.

Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) general manager Michelle Bishop, county solicitor David Sundin and county director of finance/treasurer Sandra Zwiers.

Garbage collection has been the responsibility of the lower tier municipalities with county bylaw 2847 calling for towns to treat their own sewage waste and manage their own garbage collection. That bylaw would have to be repealed if four of the seven municipalities representing at least 50 per cent of the population were to agree with a regional approach.

Bishop pointed out county council agreed at the March 16, 2022 meeting that all Essex County municipalities “will participate in a regional solution for the collection and processing of organic waste material from urban settlement areas, at a minimum, as part of the shortterm processing contracting commencing Jan. 1, 2025 or immediately upon the

By Ron Giofu

expiration of a municipality’s existing waste collection contract, whichever is later.”

A subsequent motion passed June 15, 2022 called for county administration to work with the EWSWA to prepare a report on cost savings to be realized by transferring garbage collection from local municipalities to the County of Essex “and ultimately to EWSWA.”

Bishop told town council Monday night a municipal working group had met for the first time earlier that day.

“We are enlisting the help of all municipality’s and have established a working group,” said Bishop.

Costs are rapidly rising for waste collection, she told council, and that is a reason for exploring a regional approach.

“What we are seeing in regards to tender results is a significant cost increase to municipalities,” said Bishop.

By going with a regional approach, Bishop indicated there could be economies of scale and would increase competition among bidders.

“It would give opportunities for others to come to the area and mobilize,” she added.

The county and EWSWA has a target of Fall 2023 for a request for tenders (RFT) for collection services.

Other advantages the EWSWA and county officials believe exist are streamlining service delivery, improving administration efficiencies, standardization of service levels, and incentivizing green household practices. Logistical considerations include standardizing service and that would look at frequency of collection, quantity of collection, timing of collection and additional services.

Bishop said they want to ensure all residents have the same service levels.

Zwiers said the funding model options that are being studied include one user fee based and another general levy based. She also indicated a hybrid model could be used.

“The concept is proposed to remove the cost from the local level and move it to the county level,” said Zwiers. If a regional approach is ultimately approved, the funding model would be determined by county council.

“It’s a county decision at that time with local input,” said Zwiers.

Zwiers later added taxpayers stand to benefit as savings would be realized by only one tender being on the market as opposed to seven contracts. She also said local municipalities are seeing sharp increases, estimating Amherstburg could see costs double in 2027 under the current