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Solid Waste Committee for Trenton, Maine
Town of Trenton Solid Waste
Committee
Agenda
for February 4, 2009 meeting
1.
Attendees:
2. Administrative:
-Vote to accept minutes from January
7, 2009 meeting
New and Old Business
by category:
3. Separation of waste materials
Bulk of separables:
Cardboard & Paper
dumpsters
–
Need to replace tarps!! Who wants to volunteer?
At last meeting, Beth Gott said
that compressed cardboard (cereal boxes) should go in the paper dumpster. She has since checked with EMR and
corrected herself. Cereal boxes go
into the cardboard dumpster with
the corrugated.
Tom to present cardboard and
paper summary amounts for September through December or January?
Plastic & metal containers
dumpster
– some residents have put unbagged items into dumpster. Tom and Chuck (& others?) have bagged
some loose materials and moved some from the front of the dumpster to the
back. In general, they seem to be catching on. Ready for first dumping after ~1 month.
Glass containers dumpster – also some
unbagged glass items in this dumpster.
It is too deep to reach into to bag them! Replace dumpster with a different
container which is easier to reach the bottom of (and also less expensive)?
General plowing, shoveling and
snow removal from dumpsters – Currently very dependent on volunteer
labor. Is there a better solution
for the long term?
Fruit/vegetable/plant composting – time
to address compost bins…
Minority: (nothing to
discuss)
Bulky
Construction Debris
Metal
Hazardous (batteries, mercury
bulbs, computers)
Remaining MSW – nothing
to discuss
4. Bypassing ‘middleman’
Possible curbside pickup and
take directly to PERC? On hold for
now?
5. Communication:
Website – Status quo. Nothing to discuss
Mailing – no current mailing
plans
Town TV – nothing to discuss
Radio Public Service
announcements – nothing to discuss
Newspaper Public Service or town
section notice – Peter?
Education (schools, etc.) –
Peter “trash fair” update?
6. Other old or new business:
-status of Eastern Maine
Recycling (EMR) contract & discussions with Ellsworth
Question: Recycling portion of EMR cost is
currently ~$10,000/year and may go to ~$16,000 with new contract. Is that because of separating recyclables
from different towns? How much would
we save if towns were willing to forego separate drop-off areas?
7. Identified Action Items:
8. Adjourn meeting
Next
meeting is Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 7PM in the town office.
Meeting
minutes for February 4, 2009 meeting
1.
Attendees: Tom
Sproule, Dotty Young, Peter Rees, Mike Gilmartin
2.
Administrative:
-Voted to accept minutes from January
7, 2009 meeting, 3 yes, 0 no, 2 abstentions (Tom and Dotty present, Chuck
approved minutes by email)
New and Old Business
by category:
3. Recyclables and composting
One committee member reported a
recent discussion with a town resident who still had been unaware (until
that discussion) that we had a recycling station at the town office. In follow up discussion, committee
members were in agreement that we are adequately advertising our recycling
program and residents are gradually becoming aware of, and using, the recycling
dumpsters.
Cardboard & Paper dumpsters – At the November 2008 meeting, we (the
Solid Waste Committee) decided that we need to replace the tarps purchased
to cover the paper and cardboard dumpsters in September 2008 (the original
tarps were not sturdy enough). Eric
White had volunteered to purchase replacement tarps and bungee cords to tie
them down. However, he has not been
able to do so in the past three months, so at this meeting the committee
sought another volunteer to take over that responsibility. Action
item: Mike Gilmartin has
volunteered to purchase sturdy tarps and bungee cords to secure them, to be
reimbursed by the town upon submitting receipts to Janet Muise. Committee discussion emphasized that the
tarps should be the heaviest grade available, so they will stand up to the
weather. Further discussion turned
to the idea that the dumpsters may someday be moved to the entrance of
Salty Sand Way, and that perhaps it would be appropriate to build a
sheltering structure for them after they are moved. Action
item: Dotty will call Karen Hart
to inquire about Maine Community Foundation grants which may be available
to cover the cost of constructing the shelter.
Tom noted that at the last
meeting, Beth Gott said that compressed cardboard (cereal boxes) should go
in the paper dumpster, but she has since checked with EMR and corrected
herself. Cereal boxes go into the cardboard dumpster with the
corrugated. Based on Beth’s first
statement, Tom changed the website to report erroneous information. He has since corrected it.
Tom presented cardboard and
paper summary amounts for July through December, compared to the last three
years. So far, we have collected
about 1.5 times as much paper and cardboard, and 1.2 times as much
containers (by weight) compared to the average
of the same period over the last three years (2005-2008). Current MSW total weight is 87% of the average over the same period. Since starting use of the town office
recycling dumpsters in September, recycling has averaged 10.5% by weight of
recyclables plus municipal solid waste combined. This compares to 5.7% average over the
last 3 years.
Plastic & metal containers
dumpster
– Tom reported that some residents have put unbagged items into
dumpster. Tom and Chuck (& possibly
others) have bagged some loose materials and moved some from the front of
the dumpster to the back. In general, they seem to be catching on. This 6 cubic yard dumpster is now ready
for its first dumping, approximately one month after it was delivered (The
delivery date was 1/8/09. The actual
dump date was 2/5/09).
Mike expressed concerns that the
current containers dumpster procedures require that containers be bagged,
and that the bags themselves represent an increase in generated waste. The committee discussed ways to eliminate
the bagging requirement. These may
include getting EMR to allow Gott’s to dump the containers rather than hand
transferring them to another container, and exploring if Ellsworth would
allow the containers to be dumped there.
Glass containers dumpster – It was also
noted that some glass items are placed in this dumpster unbagged. Tom has found the dumpster to be too deep
to reach into to bag them. The
committee discussed replacing the dumpster with a different container which
is easier to reach the bottom of (and also less expensive). The favored option would be a box with
lid containing two regular trash cans.
Action item: Dotty will price the lumber to build such
a box, and perhaps determine if she can find a carpenter to volunteer to build an attractive
looking box.
General plowing, shoveling
and snow removal from dumpsters – Tom noted that the plowman is doing a
good job of clearing snow from the dumpsters, but that removal of snow from
on top of dumpsters and shoveling out pathways is currently very dependent
on volunteer labor (mostly Tom and Chuck right now). While the volunteers are meeting the need
for now, the committee should try to come up with a better solution for the
long term.
Fruit/vegetable/plant
composting
– Though there is still lots of snow on the ground, the committee decided
that it was time to start addressing the spring promotion of composting
bins. Action item: Peter will
contact Bob Kates to find out if he has already found a good supplier of
compost bins. We discussed the town
bulk purchasing a number of bins for resale to town residents, or directing
residents to some other supplier, such as possibly the Hancock County
Extension.
4. Communication:
Newspapers - Peter has
had regular communications with an editor at the Ellsworth American,
attempting to get them to publish articles on our recycling program to
promote it and raise awareness.
Peter reported this evening that he contacted the editor again
recently, and that the editor’s response was favorable. Peter thinks they will prepare a story
“soon”.
Trash fair – Peter said
that, when contacted, EMR endorsed the idea of the trash fair, and that EMR
committed $500 and Lee Worcester personally an additional $250 towards
covering the cost of the fair.
Additionally, the town of Bar Harbor has promised $250 towards
covering the costs. Unfortunately,
the trash fair idea is very dependent on getting volunteer help from
personnel associated with each school, and despite repeated attempts Peter
has had a lot of trouble rousing that volunteer help. If his efforts to get that support
continue to be frustrated, the whole project may fail.
5. Other old or new business:
Tom asked Peter, as Acadia
Disposal District representative, if he knew anything about the status of contract
negotiations with EMR. Peter said
nothing has been reported at recent ADD meetings. When Tom expressed additional concerns
about the contract process, Peter suggested that Tom directly contact Tony
Smith, chairman of ADD with his questions.
Action item: Peter will email to Tom Tony Smith’s
email address.
A committee member mentioned
that Lamoine currently has an active recycling program, and that we might
want to contact them for information.
6. The meeting was adjourned at
8:30PM. The next meeting is Wednesday, March
4, 2009, 7PM in the town office.
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