I own and operate a retail…

I own and operate a retail gift store in downtown Dresden. Since purchasing the building in 2018 and establishing my small business, I have worked with the other local retailers and small businesses to help make Dresden an interesting attractive destination for tourism and shopping. Our BIA, local service clubs, churches, Horticultural Society and dozens of dedicated and committed volunteers have worked hard over the past several years in a concerted effort to enhance the appeal and charm of our beautiful town. I feel that Dresden is beginning to bloom, as the number of events and visitors continue to grow, and as established Dresden institutions such as the Josiah Henson Museum bring renewed awareness and appreciation of the town's historical and cultural context.

A landfill on the border of our town would have devestating consequences for our econmic growth and our small-town aesthetic. At a time when we are trying to attract more and diverse businesses to enhance tourism and new residential settlement, the development of a landfill literally a stone's throw from town, with its truck traffic, noise, odours and negative environmental impacts, would undo the recent positive results of our collective efforts toward community renewal. The overwhelming oppostion to the proposed landfill from local residents, businesses and Municipal Council should be enough to stop it, especially in light of amenments to the Environmental Assessments Act enacted by the passing of Bill 197 in 2020, as another comment has referenced. If the provision for Municipal approval in Bill 197 for some reason is deemed not apply, then a full Environmental Assessment would be the very least that should be done, and would certainly confirm the unsuitablity of the subject property for its proposed development as a landfill site.