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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-14 Solid Waste Advisory Committee Minutes(2-- Solid Waste Advisory Committee Wednesday, October 14, 1998 Berger Room, Reading Town Offices 30: 58 Present: Bob Brown, Jackie Chipman, Kay Clark, Jennifer Culbert, Jean Krogh, Anne Mark, Ted McIntire (staff), Nathan White, Lynda Zarrow. Guests: Mary Ellen Becker, John Fallon, Wendy Small. The meeting was called to order by Jackie Chipman at 7:40 PM. Bob Brown proposed some changes to last month's minutes, which were there approved as corrected. Discussion of Town meeting: Condominium Trash Collection: Wendy Small distributed copies of Article 9 (concerning trash collection at condominiums) and Article 12 (concerning establishing a revolving fund with MRIP money) to be discussed at the Fall Town Meeting. Wendy Small and John Fallon represented a group of concerned condominium owners who are working toward the successful passage of Article 9. Their. group is planning to do a mailing and make phone calls to town meeting members, and to distribute'hand-outs at town meeting. The main points they plan to raise are: they pay for trash collection through their taxes, but are not allowed access; and that they have no access to recycling. lEstorically, the issue began when trash fees were moved back into the tax base during an override vote. Although most members of the committee expressed private views in support of the fairness issues faced by the condominium owners; the official position of the committee is based on increasing recycling. The increased tonnage of recycled materials,,, will increase the incentive fee earned by the town through the Municipal Recycling Incentive Program (MRIP). Other communities (about 10%) statewide do include condominiums in trash collection; perhaps they are also trying to be proactive in using the MRIP. A discussion followed on how the different condominiums planned to participate„ in recycling, Since this is the reason. the SWAC would support' passage of the Article,.the. committee is concerned that all condo niniums would insure that recycling will, be part of their plans. Ms. Small, and Mr. Fallon agreed that this would be discussed at the owner's meeting on the following Wednesday. Toward the end of the discussion, Bob Brown stated that any increase in recycling participation would be a help;to the town. We can improve our participation figures later through education and incentives just as we plan for the rest of the town. A motion was made and seconded to support passage of Article 9 at town ;meeting. The motion passed by a vote of 7 to 0.. MRIP Revolving Fund -Passage of Article 12 was then considered by the committee. This article would establish a revolving fund from'MRIP money that could then be used by e committee for educational programs. These revolving funds can. sometimes be abused ; since they bypass the normal budget and approval process. Since we do not know how successful the town will be at meeting future MRIP requirements, we could be creating a fund without a future source of funding. However, there is no present source of funding for committee activities such as public education. Jackie Chipman felt that unless the money we made from MRIP was returned to the town for general use, it would not be a true incentive for the town. A motion was made and seconded to indefinitely postpone Article 12. This was passed by a vote of 6 to 0 with one abstention. As the author of the motion, Bob Brown agreed to present the motion for postponement at town meeting. Earth Force: Mary Ellen Becker explained that Earth Force was an opportunity for the youth of a community to learn about town government while participating in an activity that would benefit the town. She was looking for suggestions for youth projects, noting that the issues of looking at water use in the Ipswich River watershed area had already been suggested to her group. The following ideas were suggested: looking at extending compost center hours, reducing trash town wide (shopping bags as an example), a youth version (perhaps a coloring book) of the Reading's Hidden Treasure with emphasis on reducing and recycling, and work on recycling in the schools. This last suggestion included surveying what is already being done, looking at the impact an improvement would make on the MRIP program, and starting programs that would increase recycling at the schools. Mary Ellen indicated that she would talk with the regional advisor for Earth Force to help make the choice about the project. Mass. Recycles Day Event (November 7): The schedule for support at the Compost Center changed slightly. Jennifer and Kay will be staffing the effort from 10 to noon, with Bob and Anne following from 12 noon to 2 PM. Lynda agreed to find an aquarium and get raffle tickets. Jackie will have a bin available. Jennifer and Jean will meet this Friday to complete work on the Library display. This will focus mainly on buying recycled products, but may include information on composting. Anne is looking for videos to submit to Channel 3; the Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) video would be a good choice. The pledge cards will be distributed at the library and at the DPW window. MRIP update: Adding the condominiums to town recycling would actually account for 51% of the currently underserved units in Reading. There are 463 condominium units and 399 apartment units. We will make this round of the MRIP but as qualifications become tighter it will be more of a problem. The ultimate goal would be a PAYT program. Bob pointed out that the town had already accepted user fees on white goods and other large items. Ted reported that all paperwork was submitted for re-refined oil, recycled paint, and the fluorescent bulbs shed. We agreed to discuss recycling in the schools in depth at our next meeting. Jennifer will contact Mary Ellen Becker one more time to encourage this as an Earth Force project. Chamber bf Commerce Talk: The Chamber appreciated the talk, but were reluctant to participate in a survey. They were hoping that by working as a group they could get discounted rates from a hauler. Lynda will contact them through Carol Hughes to suggest that a Chamber member come to a future SWAC meeting. Other Issues: Sharon Kishida (the regional MRIP coordinator) toured Reading's solid waste facilities. She looked at the compost center, DPW waste oil center, and discussed access to Reading Solid Waste programs. She was impressed with what we are doing. Reading has a new hauler: Waste Management. They have purchased the current company, Truk-Away, and are looking to extend the Truk-Away contract with the town (which was lower than the original Waste Management bid.) A suggestion was made to write a directory of the Solid Waste Committee to help facilitate communications. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 12 at 7:30 PM. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 PM. Respectfully submitted, Kay Clark