Trash removal opinions?

[7F24]

I like what we've had, curbside is so easy, and helps keep the town clean.  I do hate that Casella can't  figure out a way to recycle plastic bags, while the district can.  Unfortunately we don't have the option of both.  If we stay with curbside it has to be fair to all.  Each household pays the same, apartments pay by the units, not the single tax bill.  We have a vote coming, what do you think?

[trussell]

Personally, having the costs included in my taxes works out better for me financially... but at the same time when people have a direct vested (monetary) interest in something, it automatically leads to better compliance.  If a homeowner were charged say $2.00 for each bag to be picked up but recycling is free then I bet 9 out of 10 people will do all they can to recycle.  But if they don't have to pay directly then they have less of a financial reason to comply.

The idea that the absence of town-sponsored trash removal will lead to littering is incredibly dated.  Fairfax is one of the few towns in the area- and probably the state as well- that pays for trash removal through taxes and I don't see our roadsides any less littered than other towns.  I see just as many trash bags waiting for pickup after Green Up Day as any other area too. 

This topic also seems to consume an incredible amount of the Select Board's time so why not just follow the good work that so many other towns have done and just join the local Solid Waste District?

[7F24]

From what I understand the annual payment will be on the tax bill.  What I meant was you pay by units, one tax bill could cover five apartments...they should pay for five, not one.

[ohhman]

I agree! Curbside is hopefully the way we continue to go; YES for one tax bill for landlords to cover ALL of their apartments ( pay for 5 not for 1)

[johnmitchell]

My opinion is that curbside should remain and each unit should pay.  If the numbers are correct it will cost more, including time and transportation, to take our own trash/recycle to Georgia transfer station than it will to retain curbside pickup.  Having said that, it is imperative to keep some competition in the bidding process.  It is also my opinion that this should be a line item on all tax bills and all parcels of land and dwelling units should pay.

[RidgeRunner]

I missed the meeting so didn't get the entire brief but from what I understand keeping what we have will cost a significant amount more than going to the district as well as free the town up from potential penalties. Can anyone confirm this?  If we go to the district I also understand that individuals can arrange for curbside pick up on their own, is this correct?  I was also under the impression that groups like condo associations, neighborhoods etc.. could negotiate a group rate.  Not certain how I am going to vote on this one....

[mrs.freddie]

RidgeRunner-I support joining the district based on the fact that they will handle the reporting to the State, i,e, the Town of Fairfax Select Board will not have to do all the leg work to contract a qualified solid waste professional, and the Town will have to ensure the report is in compliance with all aspects that are mandatory per Act 148. Even if the Town sub-contracts out the state reporting, the Town is still responsible if there are errors, etc.  I work for CSWD and we are responsible for the state reporting for Chittenden County, and have several full time staff members doing that work.  The reporting requires staff for physical business outreach, school outreach, community outreach driving around presenting to kids, holding composting workshops, etc..plus, submit all the materials used to educate these entities, along with the count of how many businesses, children, residents were educated.  Holding 2 household hazardous waste events is the state requirement, and Fairfax did not hold the second one last year. That information was relayed to me by my colleague at the state, and I brought it to the attention of the Select Board this past May.  It's a big deal and there are penalties if the report is unsatisfactory or incomplete.  There are no 'trash police', but there are potential fines for the Town if this reporting is not done right, and the Town needs to 'prove' the hauler we've contracted is also in compliance with Act 148's Pay-As-You-Throw pricing requirements, etc.

Joining the district would eliminate thist pretty big problem.  Then residents can subscribe to whatever hauler gives them the best deal (haulers are required to incentive customers to contract lower volume (64 gallons or less) trash picup and/or lower frequency of service (weekly recycling pickup, bi-weekly trash pickup, etc).  Residents can then decide to group service with neighbors so one truck services that area, and they would be able to shop around for the best rates. 

I was told the Casella bid is for a 4-year contract.  I am not in favor of paying the same amount for my trash pickup when I have a small 32G container and 4 overflowing recycle bins, and my neighbor has 10 bags of trash on the curb every week.  I could contract with a private hauler for bi-weekly trash and weekly recycling and pay significantly less than what is proposed.  It was said at the meeting on Thurs night that the Article would be 'non-binding' if residents vote to continue Town-contracted curbside,  and that they would send out an RFP to more haulers (Gauthier's, Myers, Clean Green, Casella, etc) for residents to compare proposals.  If residents vote no, the Town moves to join the Northwest Solid Waste District, and I'm in full support of that option.   

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks Mrs.freddie. That makes sense to me and is a great fact based answer.

[roadrnnr]

Is the amount they are proposing just a continuation of what we have now? The money stated is for the whole contract right, not added to what we allready pay, to cover some new regulation.

If I figured right by using 4285 residents the numbers they presented are only about 3 bucks a week per person.

Looks like doing our own would be much more.

[trussell]

roadrnnr- I think you'd want to divide that by the number of households though- which is around 2,000 I think.

[roadrnnr]

roadrnnr- I think you'd want to divide that by the number of households though- which is around 2,000 I think.

Yeah I realized my mistake after I posted this. So Lets say $650000/2000=$6.25 week

At $4.50 a bag on our own looks like the town option is much better

[7F5]

I think a town wide program is the way to go. Put the garbage on the curb or at the end of road and it goes away once a week. No having to go to Georgia to meet their hours of operation. No having to hire your own hauler, who may increase your rates in a month or two like some satellite TV provider do to you. Just my thoughts.

[mrs.freddie]

If it were a matter of just putting your trash and recycling at the end of the driveway and it going away, then yes, curbside through the town taxes would be fine.  However, it's not just the trash pickup service we are contracting for...the Town also needs to have someone to do the legwork for the state reporting requirements and someone qualified to actually write the report.  The Selectboard (SB) sent the first of the reporting for this new law into the state for approval and it was denied because it did not have sufficient details about how the Town was going to manage the leg work of educational outreach to schools, businesses and the community with boots on the ground presenting at all these places about waste management.  The Town then needed to revise, update and I would assume put a lot more man hours into re-submitting the report. That's just the beginning...reporting gets much more involved and technical as the new organics diversion laws go into effect over the next several years. 

There is no one on staff for any of the haulers (that I know of and I work closely with all of them in CSWD for my job) that have staff dedicated (or even qualified) to do the mandatory, very technical, state reporting...they are not a solid waste entity, they do not have to do any of the reporting the districts have to do and would likely have to sub-contract a solid waste professional to do this work for us.  I personally have been called by 2 haulers asking if I would provide consulting services they could add to their proposal for the town (after they heard there would be an RFP, as stated by the SB at the special meeting)...that kind of confirms my theory. 

The Northwest Solid Waste District would assume all the responsibility for doing the outreach (they have staff at the district hired for school, business, community outreach), creating the report and assuring it's accuracy and completion by the deadline each year.  Fairfax did not have an approved state plan by July 1, 2015, did not have an approved trash ordinance for haulers that require them to provide residents with disposal options based on how much trash they put on the curb each week, and this is all public information that anyone can call the Agency of Natural Resources to confirm.  Knowing what I do from my job, the penalties the Town (or any solid waste entity) faces from the state are legit, and our SB needs to make sure whoever does our reporting knows this law intimately.  Not me, please...I do this all day every day...I value my free time way too much to be a economical option  

My impression from the meeting...was that our taxes would go up if we contracted with Casella...our contract with Duffy's came out of our taxes and this new Casella bid is an additional cost to residents...?  This is what was not clear at the meeting...I do not think that contracting with Casella saves us anything, and thought our taxes would go up significantly with this contract(?)...joining the NWSWD is a one-time buy in that the Town would pay over several years at $2.50 per capita (per person), with a yearly cost of $1 per capita.  I'd like to see the figures side by side that shows the actual cost to residents for all 4 years for the Casella contract, vs the District buy in and yearly cost.  I'd also like to see the other haulers submit proposals and I am positive that Casella's bid will be a lot different when they're competing for our service with Myers and Gautheir, etc.  Myers wasn't even contacted to submit a proposal to the Town, according to one rep that was at the meeting. 

Just a thought: Fairfax could still decide to contract with a single hauler to service the town if that's what residents wanted...Westford contracts with Gauthier to service the town and they're a member of CSWD, as does Underhill with Clean Green.  I've worked with the Town of Westford and Gauthier this past year getting them in compliance with Act 148...I suggest our SB contact Westford for more details...residents still pay for curbside service through property taxes, but get all the benefits of belonging to CSWD (drop off centers, free hazardous waste days, tire take-back days, a lot more recycling options for materials that can't go in your blue recycling bin, etc).  I'd love to see the SB explore this option with the Northwest SWD, which I'm not even sure they're aware of as I've not heard it mentioned. 

     

[BHA]

I went to the Thursday info meeting and the town meeting.

It bothers me that the cost of "keep it as it is" with Cassella is really fuzzy. They have their initial price but that includes new large trash barrels that a truck can pick up (and apparently they need a new truck to do this). But we don't HAVE to get new barrels, we could stick with what we have now and it would cost less. And there could be every week service for both trash and recycles or every other week for trash and every week for recycles or other unknown options. I'm not sure how one is supposed vote for a budget item when they truly have no idea how much it is going to cost or what they are buying.

We did find out today at town meeting what it currently costs each of us. Their numbers are always "per household" but that is very misleading. The truth is that $0.09 of the $0.4838 municipal tax is for trash. Multiply your grand list value by 9 cents to see what you are paying specifically for curbside trash pickup. Some examples:

grand list	per year	per month	per week
$100,000	$90	$7.50	$1.73
$200,000	$180	$15.00	$3.46
$300,000	$270	$22.50	$5.19

The numbers they gave us suggest the cost will be about double what we currently pay. Or less than double, again the fuzzy numbers and service level make it impossible to know. They also talked about having a fixed cost per household instead of linking to the grand list. But they won't decide how we will pay until the vote happens and (obviously) only if the majority vote yes. In reality, both options are unfair since some people generate very little trash and recycle every scrap they can. Others are the opposite, perhaps not recycling at all.

Obviously someone with a low grand list value does better with continuing curbside pickup, especially if they have a 30 gallon bag every week. No driving to drop it off and less than the $4 they would pay at the transfer station. This same person would pay a lot more if they had to contract with a hauler. On the other hand, a 15 gallon bag costs $2 with NWSWD so if they generated little trash, it will cost them more to continue curbside pickup, especially if they happen to drive by one of the transfer stations on a regular basis.
 
For me, personally, I lived in South Burlington for 28 years and never paid for curbside pickup. I had a trash compactor and once a month or so would add a trip to the transfer station on Patchen Road to my Saturday errands. How often that happened was usually determined by when the 4 blue bins were full. We would smash down cans and plastic milk bottles etc. They charged $2.50 for a compactor bag. $2.50/month or $35/month? It was not a hard decision for me. We don't generate any more trash here in Fairfax (probably less with a daughter at college out of state 9 months of the year) but with curbside pickup we don't bother with efficiency in filling the blue bins. I think we would all agree curbside is very convenient but as others mentioned, where is the incentive to put as little as possible in the waste stream if one pays the same amount whether something goes in the trash or a recycle bin?

With regard to trash on the roads, I really don't know how many people would litter vs go to the transfer station or contract a hauler. I do know that the trash barrel I am using was free. I found it in the wetland area on my property after a very strong wind on trash day. I placed it at the "curb" and left it there for 2 weeks, no one came to claim it. Likewise, things in uncovered blue bins and trash cans find their way to the roadside before the hauler comes through. How much of what we find on the side of the road was thrown there and how much was properly put in uncovered blue bins or uncovered trash cans?

[mrs.freddie]

I tragically missed this discussion at Town Meeting today, but maybe someone can fill me in...

If Article 3 passes, it's non-binding, so the plan is the Town will send out an RFP to get more competitive bids, then residents vote again?  I've already gotten 2 flyers in the mail from haulers wanting my trash and recycling if we ditch town curbside...looks like an open market is getting cheaper and cheaper. 

Also...The District buy-in is $2.50 per person, so that's $10 for my family of 4 and we're able to use the NWSWD drop-off if we vote no?  Then, it's a buck a person a year after that?  So, $4/ yearly after the initial $10 buy-in or am I missing something?  Then, $24/month is the cheapest rate, so far, for curbside if I call them myself.  Or I can bring a few bags of trash to a drop-off for $10-$15/month, which would be my first choice.

What don't we know about the Casella bid that is driving the board to push so hard in that direction?  It's not saving residents money as people have shown in these threads, it's not ensuring compliance with Act 148 for the Town as I've explained many times and further below, and we haven't seen the expenses itemized on the proposal to consider what 'services' Casella is actually charging us for...?  The board stated at the special meeting they called around for quotes, and only heard from Casella.  Myers was there and called B.S...stated no one from the Town of Fairfax has contacted them for a quote since 2013.  So...which is it?  Why are we only looking at what someone called the 'Cadillac Casella plan'? 

BHA-I work for CSWD and residents love our drop-off centers.  Customers make bringing their trash and recycling every week a social event.  Truly, people love chatting with their neighbors as they sort bottles and cans, dump their compost buckets, or off-load yard debris.  Our operators know all the customers' names and most people enjoy their experience at these drop-off centers.  You can't beat the per-bag price, you only pay for your own trash, and recycling is always free. 

Act 148 compliance is quantifiable based on whether our Town trash disposal rates are decreasing or not.  Residents have to benefit from Act 148 by seeing a disposal cost-savings when they recycle and compost, and success is measured by how much we continue to throw away as trash.   That liability remains with the Town of Fairfax, no matter who signs the Act 148 report on our behalf.