Selectmen mull Pay-As-You-Throw plan for household trash disposal

SALISBURY — The Board of Selectmen passed a resolution declaring Girl Scout Week, discussed recycling and green energy, and weathered a brief power outage (one that knocked out power at LaBonne’s market across the street) during a special 2 p.m. meeting on Monday, March 2.

The meeting was a “special� meeting because it was not held at the normal time of 4 p.m. The time change was requested last month by First Selectman Curtis Rand to accommodate a scheduling difficulty.

Rand urged voters to look at the draft ordinance concerning the new Salisbury-Sharon Resource Recovery Authority on the town’s Web site before the informational meeting Tuesday, March 3. (A full report on the meeting will appear in next week’s Lakeville Journal.)

Selectman Bob Riva and several members of the Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee attended a meeting of SMART (Save Money And Recycle Trash) in January. He reported that there was considerable discussion and interest in Pay-As-You-Throw programs, where transfer station stickers are replaced by pre-paid bags for trash, which in turn provide an incentive for the user to recycle as much as possible.

Riva said he anticipated that towns trying the idea would report resistance, but “I was surprised to hear them say there was minimal contention.�

Rand said he asked a representative of the state Department of Environmental Protection about how credit was assessed for towns reducing their volume of waste. “If we have 80 composters out there, and if they are used, how do we get credit for the weight?

“The DEP said they’re not interested in the amount of trash but in the percentage of reduction of solid waste. If every year you bring in less garbage, you must be recycling.�

The Salisbury representatives found that successful recycling programs can yield significant financial savings. Charlie Kelley said he looked at figures from various cities detailing their savings from aggressive recycling: $500,000 annually in Binghamton, N.Y., and $4.5 million in Worcester, Mass.

Brian Bartram, manager of the transfer station, said, “The largest single line item in the transfer station budget is solid waste disposal, at $265,000.� He said if that figure could be reduced through SMART methods, by between 30 and 40 percent, “it could mean substantial savings.�

Kelley noted that Stamford, Conn., had cut its solid-waste amount in half, from 9,000 tons annually to 4,500.

Rand, getting back to the Pay-As-You-Throw angle, said, “There’s a fairness thing here,� noting that it is not exactly equitable when one user pays the same as another, regardless of the amount of waste generated.

He stopped short of endorsing SMART or Pay As You Throw for the new transfer station, although he and the other selectmen appeared receptive to a suggestion that the per-bag method be adopted at the current transfer station on a trial basis, before the new facility opens.

“Stickers at least keep people engaged with their waste,� mused Rand.

He also announced that the town had received a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirming the town is in compliance with guidelines for emergencies, and said the letter made special mention of Jacqueline Rice’s work on preparing the town’s emergency planning documentation.

“We want to express our appreciation to Jacqui Rice, who has a full-time job, works with kids, puts in a lot of time on the ambulance and still finds time to produce this,� Rand said.

Note: Sets of plans for the new Town Grove building are available for inspection on a table immediately to the right as visitors enter Town Hall. Public input is welcome.

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