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Home My WebLink About1991-08-21 Solid Waste Advisory Committee MinutesReading Solid Waste Advisory Committee Minutes of meeting on 8/21/9:1. Arnold Berger Room - Town Hall The meeting was called to order at 7u35 PM by r3f'1#°ie Mark. Members in attendance were Steve (I'iC:ifliases, Ruth Coganp Anne I~ar'k, Trish s Brigham, Don Ang l eh4ar't.., Sally Sabo,, and Linda King. Also in attendance were Debbie McCully and Susan Cohien w Town Manager,, Peter h°I e:•) C;: hef i i::# 1. GP :r. 1•:: ner;, was a special guest. The minutes of the July :10, 1991 meeting were approved with minor cor-r-ect:.ions (l)o;'#'s concern regarding liability was with battery not tire collection; Laidlraw„ not Harvey Recycling does white paper recycling for Town offices and schools.) ( C:CYCL ER OF Ti•••IE: 1` ONT'I-t The Committee voted unanimously f or° the Reading Recycles Plastics group as that:; September award recipient(s). LONG 1--~ANG PLANNING ' The Committee voted to postpone this agenda item until October. DISCUSSION WITH TOWN MANAGER Anne Mark' voiced the concerns of the Committee regarding its defined identity/purpose; the perceived breakdown in information flow between the Committee, and/or the Town Manager and Board o•;= ~ _ . ':gel. c: ctmew and the relatinns with Town Staff. Peter responded by defining the Committee as an advisory group (policy s{:e;'t:.t'.:i.rig rather than implementation) which interfaces primarily with town staff. Interaction with the 'Board of Selectmen should be more limited. The Committee will be assigned projects but can also develop an agenda of its sawn. In the latter case, initiatives should be brought to Peter's attention so th'li:a't': t ie' s awcal'"{; of them and can respond to them in an appropriate manner. Generally, communication should flow through Ruthi a Peter should receive a copy of the minutes, which he passes along to the t.a(:"slYimi tt".@'e" s_1 Board of Selectmen l i ason.. . In response to the question of when the Committee should take action on an issue, F'aster indicated that he would communicate through Ruth or Anne:: if action on major issues was required. The Committee should feel free to make recommendations on various tC:3 i:~:#.(::::i:, as it sees fit.- CURBSIDE RECYCLING This program is in serious jeopardy of being cut due an loss of revenue resulting from state budget proceedings and unanticipated expenses related to special needs education. ( -4ot.:eu The compost site will remain open.) Ruth asked about the pot:enti.al costs associated with compliance with future state mandates an recycling, if the curbside program was eliminated. Peter responded th-3at the the re?ssponsai. bl. i ty of complying would be on the trash processing facility i.e. RESCON. There in a threat thier°efore, that RE SCCI ' s fee would increase.. Trish asked if there would be a cancellAtion fee associated with cessation of the recycling contract with h-ti. l t z.. Peter- is i. nve_,s. ti.clat.ing this, but he does: nt:}t think so. Peter requested that the Committee research possible options to curbside recycling. He would like the results of the Committee" s findings prior to the September 24th Board of weal ectme}n' is meeting., As a result of discussions with Peter the Committee: developed they following list of options to pur'sue I)Savings associated with biweekly rather than weekly collection. E st:i crt<:ated charge per household for those willing to pay for curbside collection. 3) Ct:a ca p er" 4a t i. o n with neighboring towns- N. Reading & Stoneham 4) Transf e::r° station in Reading operated by a third party. 5) E mpaans:si. on of dr°caha.....off at DPW, town operates site. 60ol l ec:ti. can of re:c:ycl abl es> I::r'y Atlantic and Cw`e~;rr-atani' s In the longer term, Peter- would l i k e the Committee to evaluate thr•,-r possibility of having individual homeowners contract fol''. their own trash removal., rather than having Town funded pick-up service. PLASTIC RECYCLING The, Committee discussed the option of delaying the September kick-off of plastics collection until some of the issues associated with the curbside program/budget are resolved. The Committee expressed varying opinions, but an the whole, expressed enthusiasm for the September re-start of the proyr-airt. Peter.. Johnxson, the Chairman of the Reading Recycles Plastics Group (RRPG) will communicate the Committee's thoughts to his members and let them decide their course of action., Peter Johnson reported that h•te:.s has a very energetic group 0-i volunteers and that the :initial organizational meeting and follow-up training meeting have gone well. The Group has several sub-committeest research, publicity, executive, training and vca:i.t_nt°.eer recruiting. The Group plans to staff the September collection with its > own membc:r'ss>. A member of the RRPG will attend the Solid Waste Committee meetings and a member of the aWAC, ntt:.t=st likely Linda King, will attend the RR PG meetings. OTHER BUSINESS Ruth is attending the Naati.onal. Waste Minimization Conference in. February '92. She is also making a presentation can public: education for recycling programs at the Mass. Environmental Health Conference on September 12. Also, the state of Mass is hosting a composting searrtir'taar° in Reading in early September. Ruth <=suggest:t-: d that a member- of this Committee volunteer to at-.tend the monthly meetings of the North Shore Regional. Recycling Group. Anne Mark offered to do so. The, MWFRA is hosting a Hazardous Waste collection in Reading. Tentative dates for the collection are October 12 and 19. Ruth asked for volunteers to assist with these col l ections, i e_> directing traffic. Susan, Steve, Linda and Trish volunteered. Anne may also help. Ruth asked whether- the Committee wanted to include tires in this collection. The Committee decided not to do this. Dan mentioned that the legislative effort to Waive municipalities' liability associated with hazardous waste: collections is not looking very positive at this- paint in time. The meeting adjourned at 1020 PM.