Shaftsbury Solid Waste Committee
Minutes – February 21, 2006
Cole Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Bill Pennebaker, Karen Mellinger, Michael Biddy
Citizens present: Katherine Keys, Clover Whitham (Bennington Banner)
Bill called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. The minutes of January 3, 2006 were held until a future meeting as there was not a quorum of members present (from the previous meeting).
Old Business:
Co-mingled recycling study: The group discussed how to increase the market for recyclables. Katherine Keys reported that she is familiar with some of the recycling efforts in Williamstown, Mass. That community contracts with TAM for the removal of recyclables and the materials are #1-7 inclusive, both wide-mouth and narrow neck plastics. Katherine will check with Scott Park, of the Williamstown Highway Department, regarding what kinds of costs are associated with the Berkshire contract.
Katherine questioned whether there had been any further discussion regarding a swap shed. Bill noted the use of shipping containers in Addison County to store items such as books, etc. Perhaps such a system would be a relatively inexpensive method of setting up a swap shed. These units are closed from the elements and cost a few thousand dollars. Katherine noted that unless there is someone to monitor such a system, there could be the potential for problems, such as dumping.
Recycling handbook and web site revisions: Until more details are worked out regarding the pay as you throw system, the recycling handbook and Shaftsbury web site revisions will be put on hold. Forrest Snyder, who was absent from this meeting, may have further information to report in either of these two areas.
Landfill closure: Bill updated the group on the landfill closure process. Alice Miller has been working to secure grant funding for $110,000 to help towards the closure costs. The Select Board continues to work to identify both a company and a price that will get the job done for the town.
PAYT: Bill distributed samples of stickers he had designed which might be suitable for the payt system. This would be both less expensive and less cumbersome than having a bag system. If a price was set at .75 cents a sticker, it would allow for people to continue to use different size bags. A bag of 15 gallons would take one sticker, and a 30-33 gallon bag would take two stickers. Katherine offered to find out how Williamstown handles their payt system and report back to the committee.
The group then discussed how to help those low income users for whom the payt system might be a significant burden. Bill noted that Aaron had informed him of that some citizens might qualify for assistance through the Trustees of Public Funds. The Committee agreed that more thought needs to be given to ideas of how to assist those in need.
Site visits: It was agreed that a visit to the Casella Rutland recycling facility would be advisable.
New Business:
Bill presented a written report of his visit to the Addison County Transfer Station. This is the transfer station that TAM has indicated is the “state of the art” station he is trying to model in his proposed Shaftsbury TAM facility. Bill noted that the Addison County station is paved. It was also noted that the doors of the transfer station at Addison C. are roll-up doors, which allows for a lower height building.
Future activities: Continued refining of details for the payt system will be very important. Bill suggested, and the members present agreed, that a return to two meetings a month will be necessary in order to develop these details. Dates will be decided at the next meeting in March.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Mellinger