During the Feb. 13 Board of Selectmen meeting, a proposal was discussed to allow additional passes for residents at the town’s transfer station.
In a memo to the Board of Selectmen, Director of Public Works, Jay Twardosky, explained how every residential address is “permitted three passes per calendar year for disposing of household/construction debris at the towns transfer station.”
“This three pass limit was put in place to deter residents from disposing of commercial waste, or waste generated in other municipalities, due to being a service provided through taxes and not from a pay-as-you-throw fee schedule,” Twardosky wrote. “Occasionally a need arises where a resident needs to dispose of more debris than those three passes would allow. Residents have expressed interest in purchasing extra passes to dispose of such debris.”
Twardosky explained to the Board of Selectmen that they worked with CMA Engineers through a consulting contract “to poll surrounding communities about their fee schedules to compare with our per ton disposal fees to make a more informed decision on what the fee should be.”
He stated that based on the research, they believe the fee “should be based on the average cubic yards that a full-size pickup truck (which is the average size vehicle that uses the transfer station. Cars being the smallest and one ton trucks and trailers being the largest) can hold, which is 2-2.5 cubic yards of loose debris,” Twardosky wrote.
“That loose debris, once crushed and packed into containers, will have a volume of approximately one cubic yard. The industry standard for the average weight of a cubic yard of this type of material is 500 pounds. Based on all this information, we believe the fee for extra passes should be $30 each,” Twardosky said.
He explained that his recommendation was to implement the program beginning on the first day of the new fiscal year, which is July 1, and fees would be collected through checks or credit cards at the Public Works office.
Twardosky said that under the program, residents would be able to purchase up to three additional passes, and if someone needed more “it will be up to the discretion of the Public Works Director, or their designee.”
Other recommendations include having the extra passes “clearly marked as such for verification by transfer station personnel,” and having staff “verify that the material being brought to the transfer station is allowable and doesn’t violate our permits.”
The public works department would also have the right to “limit or deny passes if it is found that residents are abusing this service by bringing in commercial waste or waste generated in other municipalities.”
Board of Selectmen Chair, Marilyn McGrath, said “I think a lot of people will be happy that need the additional passes.”
Selectman, Dillon Dumont, asked if it would be possible to have passes available at the Transfer Station.
Twardosky responded by saying that right now they would prefer people buy them at public works in advance, and they can find out what people are bringing and can make sure people aren’t planning on bringing stuff from other towns. They prefer to have a discussion beforehand.
The Selectmen ultimately approved the new policy.
