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Home My WebLink About1991-11-13 Solid Waste Advisory Committee MinutesReading Solid Waste Advisor Committee Minutes of Meeting on November 13# 1991 Arnold Berger Room - Town Nall 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:38 P.M. by Anne Mark, Chairperson. Committee members in attendance were: Don Anglehart, Carol Edwards, Linda King, Sally Sabo and Steve Thomases. Also in attendance were: Maryellen Becker, RRP Liaison, Bob Brown, Ruth Cogan, Human Services Liaison, Debbie McCulley and Ted McIntire, DPW Liaison. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Minutes of meeting of October 9, 1991 were approved with the additional notation that Reading Town Meeting had been voted Recycler of the Month for November. 3. LOCAL PRINT SHOPS RECYCLING PRACTICES Trish Brigham had called local print shops to find out whether or not the following four criteria were being met: 1) uses soy-based inks; 2) makes two- sided copies; 3) sells recycled paper; and, 4) recycles its own paper waste and cardboard. For information, only the Graphics Shop meets all. four criteria. 4. RECYCLER OF THE MONTH REI has volunteered to sponsor the program for one year. They have requested a letter from SWAC advising what criteria are used in selecting a Recycler of the Month, who has been selected to date, and what publicity the sponsor gets (articles, photos, etc. in Chronicle and Suburban News.) Maryanne Maches is REI contact. Leslie McGon4 Is, President of Reading C of C suggested the idea of an annual sponsor to relieve each business being regularly approached. Carol Edwards agreed to send the requested information to REI. Ted McIntire suggested that SWAC publicize REI's volunteering as sponsor for a year. Linda King will discuss appropriate content, etc. with Leslie M Sally Sabo agreed to write the article, if the arrangement works out, and will solicit nominees for Recycler- of the Month from the public, at large in the article. There is no Recycler of.the Month for December. 5. REPORTS A. RRP collected $400 at plastics recycling collection in October. Approximately one Ton collected. RRP is exploring construction of a.chain-link enclosure in lieu of roll off which has much smaller capacity. Ted M. is helping to resolve. B. Recycling drop-off center study: Ted M. is pricing setup and operational costs of a typical drop-off center modelled on Wilmington but not site-specific. N. Reading center, with roll-offs set below customer level for easy loading, was also discussed. Wilmington uses shuttered, fully enclosed containers at ground level, sparing extensive grading and retaining walls. 1 2. 0 9. 9 1 04: 2 0 PM ~ T A C C A M B R I D G E P 0 B C. Recycling in cooperation with other towns, utilizing drop-off centers in Stoneham, N. Reading or Wilmington was discussed. 0. Curbside recycling alternatives: Responses to survey circulated with utility/trash bills are being sorted by Linda K. and others. Results will be presented at next meeting.. E. North Shore Regional Recycling Committee: Next step after last meeting of NSRRC and their review of MRF Bylaws is for potential member-towns to adopt those Bylaws. Much discussion about the 10-cent per resident "earnest" fee which would be held for legal expenses. Many towns said they could not afford it or would not include it in already shrinking budgets. Anne thought the $2,300 for Reading would be a problem as well. NSRRC agreed for each representative to bring whole story back to their towns. There is 18 months lead time from now to adopt the MRF Bylaws. For Reading, a decision would be needed by 1993 Annual Town Meeting. - F. Budget and Long Range Planning: As a matter of practice from the inception of the SWAG, "long range" has, in fact, been "short Range." Our top priority is the development of an overall solid waste strategy. Don volunteered to review RESCO contract from a marketability viewpoint. Residents must face the fact that trash is our problem (or, my problem) before realistic solutions can be implemented. Tasks for addressing the broadest scope of a solid waste strategy recognizing the needs of the Selectmen for advice from SWAG for their FY93 budget deliberations, were assigned as follows: Privatizing: Don and Debbie • Transfer Stations: Carol • MRF's: Sally Trash Fees: Steve Reports of progress will be presented at next meeting. G. Spring Cleanup: Debbie and Anne will discuss with Jennifer Cushing, RMHS student suggesting idea, and get this going. "Glad Bag" involvement time frame is not practicable for Reading. C of C might be willing to help with coffee, donuts, etc. 6. NEWSLETTER December edition is already set. Peter H. has eight pages of articles for what is now a four-page supplement. Additional advertisers are needed if the newsletter is to be expanded. SWAG will discuss article for the newsletter after the holiday season. 7. MISCELLANEOUS Ruth announced that DPW was arranging- a Christmas tree drop-off with Goddard Landscaping. Ruth also advised that Cerratani's will install bins in their store for white paper recycling. 8. ADJOURNMENT Next meeting of SWAC will be 11 December 1991. Meeting adjourned at 9:30.