December meeting 2011

Chairperson

• Michael Hehir, Local Resident

Committee members

• Dominic Keating, Inagh Development Co. Ltd
• John Longe, Local Resident
• Katie Lewis, Inagh NS
• Martin Queally, Inagh IFA
• Michael Mahony, Cloonaha N.S.
• Perry Long, Local Resident
• Sheila McTigue, Mike McTigue Community Centre
• Cllr Joe Arkins

Absent

• Brian Fitzgerald, Local Resident
• John O’Loughlin, Local Resident
• Patrick O’Halloran, Local Resident
• Tom Long, Local Resident
• Cllrs Michael Hillery, Richard Nagle & Michael Kelly and Bill Slattery, Clare County Council.

Council officials

• Paul Moroney
• James Keane
• Maeve Ryan
• Frances Mc Namara

Michael Hehir opened the meeting by congratulating the Inagh ladies on their recent success on winning the All-Ireland Junior Camogie Title.

Main points

Minutes of meeting held on 9th November 2011

• Proposed by Michael Mahony
• Seconded by Dominic Keating

Matters arising from minutes

Clarification was sought on the minutes of the previous meeting which quoted Paul Moroney stating that "CLMC meetings were not necessary according to the licence and the decision may be made not to hold any more meetings". Paul Moroney said that it was not his intention to suggest that no further meetings should be held, and proposed that meetings be held in March, June, September and December for 2012. He added that he hoped that the range of issues would reduce over time.

Perry Long asked if there was a limit to the number of waste containers which had to be on site. Maeve Ryan replied that there is one waste container on site on a permanent basis with a second one on standby if required, however Clean Ireland are on site every day and containers are emptied as necessary.

Perry Long asked if bird control would remain on site. Maeve Ryan said that the bird control contract would continue until the LLDPE liner was in place and until the EPA gave approval for its removal.

Odour management

John Long said that despite waste no longer being landfilled at the facility that there was a terrible odour over the last two weeks.  Perry Long also noted that the odour was particularly bad on the previous Thursday night.  Maeve Ryan said that the temporary flare went down without activating the texting system. The suppliers were on site on Saturday 3^rd December to rectify the problem. Maeve Ryan added that the temporary flare would only be in operation until the capping was completed. 

Cllr Arkins queried if rodent control would continue once the capping works were finished. Maeve Ryan said that Clare County Council would be maintaining the rodent contract, as in the other transfer stations in the County.

Perry Long asked if the odour and litter patrols would be continuing at the site and added that the litter patrols could be "patchy at times". Maeve Ryan replied that the odour patrols will be continuing for the present, but that the litter outside the facility was most likely caused by illegal dumping.  She added that there are heath and safety implications in relation to carrying out litter cleanups on narrow stretches of road with no hard shoulder.  She stated the CWMF is liaising with the Ennistymon Roads section to arrange for cleanup at these locations. In relation to the occurrence of dumping around the main gate, Maeve Ryan stated that it is intended to upgrade the CCTV cameras at the front gate in the near future.

Perry Long asked if there would be a site manager assigned to the facility on a long term basis. Paul Moroney said that this may require a change or an amendment to the current licence as the intention would be that the manager of the facility would be based in Council Headquarters and assigned additional duties, as in the case of the other transfer stations. A supervisor will remain on site at all times. The office at the facility will remain open for telephone calls and for the general public to access if necessary.

Correspondence

Perry Long noted the number of odour complaints in the correspondence since the last meeting.  She said that the number of complaints did not coincide with the times the odour patrols were carried out for the most part.

Any other business

Perry Long said that the lights were on at the facility for a period of time on Friday night 25th November. Maeve Ryan said that the lights may have been activated by animals but that there may also be a problem with the sensor. She said that she would speak to the Council electrician regarding this issue.

Paul Moroney said that there was another matter he wished to discuss concerning the distribution of the community fund. He said that difficulties had arisen regarding the distribution of the fund which appeared to have caused a problem regarding the scheduling of meetings as the six member panel were not always available, and that a number of meetings had to be postponed / cancelled for this reason. He asked in an attempt to progress the situation if members would be agreeable to hold these meetings with five people in attendance rather than six. Sheila McTigue said that there should be a bit more flexibility regarding the times of the meetings. It was suggested that the meetings be scheduled for evening time in order to overcome any work commitments that members may have during the day.

John Longe said that he had written to Clare County Council requesting that certain questions be answered, and that correspondence remained outstanding. John Longe added that there was "nothing to show" for the monies allocated from the fund and that there was a lot of underhand activity in relation to the process. Paul Moroney replied that he did not accept that anything underhand occurred; he said that Clare County Council had received a number of items of correspondence in relation to the distribution of this tranche of the funding and would check to see if all correspondence had been replied to. Perry Long said that although correspondence may have been replied to that it didn’t mean that the questions were answered and that the substantive issues were not addressed. Ms. Long suggested that Clare County Council be more flexible to all six members of the Evaluation Panel and that the Council should commit to answering questions asked. Martin Queally suggested that money should be given to the groups that had made applications for it.

Date for next meeting

The date for the next meeting is the 7th March 2011 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting concluded at 8:05 p.m.