A joint resolution from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) and the City of Merritt passed almost unanimously at the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) convention in Kamloops.
The resolution requests the province establish a committee to examine and recommend changes to the biosolids review process as well as changes to the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation and Agricultural Land Commission Act.
Having been approved at SILGA, the resolution will now be on the agenda of the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) meetings in the fall.
On Wednesday, Merritt Mayor Neil Menard, TNRD Area M director Randy Murray and Area N director Herb Graham presented the resolution before approximately 200 delegates representing roughly 550,000 people in the Southern Interior.
Murray said the resolution was one vote shy of passing unanimously.
“That was a great endorsement,” Murray said.
If it’s passed in the fall, biosolids will become an issue for UBCM staff to bring to government, he added.
The resolution was crafted by members of the TNRD and the City of Merritt.
Murray said he thinks the resolution passed with as wide a margin as it did because people realize the provincial regulations surrounding biosolids are not inclusive of residents and local governments.
He said he believes biosolids could be an election issue as well.
