The Board of Selectman appointed the Solid Waste Citizens Study Group (SWAC), in September 2007 to review and evaluate the current Pay as You Throw Program (PAYT) as well as alternative programs. The SWAC goal was to seek methods to improve the participation in the town’s solid waste program, increase recycling, and to allow the program to be self sufficient in funding. In 2009, the SWAC recommended to the Selectman that the current program remain (the green bags) and focused on the finances of this program. In order for the Enterprise Fund to be balanced, there needs to be an increase in revenue.
The SWAC met with our Recycling Committee to work possible improvements to the recycling effort in town. The proposed plan will be presented for consideration to the Board of Selectman has two components. A once a year flat fee assessed to participating households and enhancements to the program, such as additional brush days, free hazardous and bulky item disposal days. A vehicle sticker system has also been discussed as a way to raise revenue from the non-participating households wishing to utilize these enhanced services.
The committees would like your opinion. By taking part in the polls below as well as attending the scheduled public forum, you will be providing feedback as to which fee structure you and your family would support, as well as which additional enhancements you would like. The goal is provide as minimal a financial impact as possible to the residents while still addressing the programs deficit.
The Public Meeting will be January 14, 2010 at 7pm in the Library Meeting Room to further explain the budgetary issue and discuss the proposed solution.
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I’m sure these ideas have been covered by the committee already but here’s my take on the plan.
As I understand, Private companies profit from recycling so would it be beneficial to have weekly pick ups? This, in my view, encourages households to seperate recyclables on a weekly basis and avoid storage of such materials and the temptation to throw out recyclable items along with regular trash.
Also, could we have a communal hazardous/bulk trash area? I know that there are lots of companies out there looking for used white goods etc. I had the experience this year of trying to dispose of a freezer. I called a company in Worcester to take it away. It had already gone before they could get to it. They did warn me that this could be the case but it saved me $25.
Ben,
The private companies can profit, however our current contract also assumes their loss when the market is down. The cost of curbside pickup is approx 2/3 of the solid waste budget adding another trip would be cost prohibitive at this time.
As for your other query, we have looked at a drop off site possibly at the DPW.
thanks for your interest in this issue.
I am curious if the individuals who have taken the survey and chose the private hauler option if it is a financial decision or standing on principal? When you do the math, it doesnt make sense. The current private hauler costs are $336 and $396 annually, depending on the size of the toter.
All of the PAYT options are less than that with the flat fee, except Option #1 and you put out 2 large green bags every week (and that is only by $1.00).
I would love to know why people are voting for that option.
If you can’t make the public meeting tomorrow night at the library, please consider answering on this website.
thanks,
Hi Fran,
The answer to your question for me is neither of those. We recently moved to Northborough after living in both Delaware and Pennsylvania over the last 27 years. We have never lived where trash collection was provided and have always paid for a private hauler. Partly, then, it is habit; and otherwise, for me it is convenience. On any given day, there are many details to attend to and I prefer not to have to pay attention to keeping a stock of special bags for trash disposal.
Hi Fran,
I have an office in shrewsbury and purchase their bags as well. I have to say that the quality of the nboro bags is inferior to shrewsbury. we tend to use more bags in nboro because they rip so easily. can the strength of the bags be addressed?
also – at some point the private service companies will be more economical – if you need three bags each week – so there is a limit to what the cost per bag can be raised to.
I think to solve the problem we should look to our neighbors. It appears to me that the Town is the one standing on principal. Maybe I’m wrong but by the looks of things driving around town, I would guess 50% or more homes use the private dumpster/toter. Yet the town still has to pay for their hauler to go up and down every street in case someone has a bag out. Many Towns to the not to far to the west of us negotiate with private haulers to cover the entire town on contract and provide each house with a dumpster/tote. Also if we put a collection area at the DPW with large dumpsters, like Marlborough, we people can get rid of nearly anything and everything, some for a fee, then we won’t see ties, white goods, mattresses etc. thrown on the side of the road on the back roads of town. Negotiate with one contractor for it all. The town bag system is competing with the private haulers and in my opinion we are all losing. I don’t think it will ever come close to paying for itself if this continues.
Mr. Boland,
-Approximately 15% of the households use the current private hauler.
-We have a contract with a private hauler to provide curbside pickup for the entire town, some residents chose to go with a different program when we stopped paying for the service through taxation.
Private hauler or pay as U throw. Private hauler is a flat fee. Pay as U throw is a bag fee and an additional $100 + or more per year? Then there was an option that got pushed aside “Single stream”. The single stream option would be less than any other on a 6 year contract. But this will not go out to bid per conversation at the last meeting of this committee. Our trash collection has gone out to bid every 3 years except for this last one because Pellegrino’s contract was extended automatically with a 2 1/2% yearly increase and a 1 year extension for 2 years. This is almost a $1 million expense for the town citizens and you as citizens should tell your elected officials to put it out to bid. Now is the time to speak up.
Mr. Fouracre,
With all due respect, the single stream option was explored and has the “potential” to cost less. HOWEVER, it also came with upfront costs that would be prohibitive at this time
Also, having 1yr options at 2 ½ % increases has benefit. If the economy indicates going to bid would have less of an impact, we can.
And for the record, you pay for the private hauler in town and do not participate in this PAYT program, correct?
It doesn’t matter how I dispose of my trash or recyclables, it’s about the cost to run our town.
As a life long resident of this community, a senior and self employed person,
I feel that our elected and appointed boards are being led in a costly direction. It is about time that we look for other options in every department to start cutting cost. With this new plan taxpayers are being subjected to an extra tax. The town bore the expense of $250,000 over the past 3 years ($750,000) in the budget. Now to make more room (instead of cutting budgets) you will be asking the residents to pay for the trash completely. Is Pellegrino the only option that this town has? If this is put out to bid it could attract others, and that is what competition does. As for single stream, the up front cost was for a short term contract. We sign a contract with Wheelabrator for 20 years, why can’t a contract be signed with any other trash company for more than 3 years. As of now the economy indicates going to bid would be the thing to do. For those who don’t know how much more the present contract we have now would cost, for the 5 years (term of contract with 2 1 year options) over $70,000. That means the contractor gets an automatic raise every year. We recycle now and the cost continues to escalate. Wasn’t recycling going to save us money and the environment?
We started using the PAYT bags when they first came out and then moved over to the private service purely based on convenience. As a busy family of 4 the bags became a giant nuisance and when I did the math, going with the private service versus the bag route it really wasn’t that much more of an up charge and it is worth every cent for the convenience of it.I would happily send my $30 a month to the town if there was a similiar service. It is also hard to believe that it is only 15% that use the private service. On my street and the neighboring streets almost every house uses the same private service.
I favor having a low annual fee to cover the deficit and leave the price of bags the same, or just lower the price of the large bag to $2.50 to help the larger families who use more than one large bag per week. For househlds with one or two people, one small bag is sufficient if they carefully recycle and compost their kitchen waste. Paying $100 for an annual fee and $6 to $12 per month for bags is still cheaper than using a private hauler. The enhancements that have been suggested are useless for most people who would be paying the fee and would merely raise the town’s taxes unnecessarily.
As a board member of the Northborough Food Pantry, I am concerned about the rising costs that face families we serve at the pantry. At this time, the pantry purchases Town trash bags and distributes one small bag to each household a week. However a flat fee in addition to the cost of the bags is going to further stress families who are having trouble feeding those in their household, especially seniors still living in their own homes.I would like to see the flat fee have an exemption for those below a certain level of income.
Mr. Fouracre et al,
As a 22 year resident of this community and volunteer, in several capacities of more than 20yrs….
Clarify for me:
On one hand you feel going out to bid will save money “Is Pellegrino the only option that this town has? If this is put out to bid it could attract others, and that is what competition does”
Yet when you speak about the “single stream” system you profess that a long contract will save money “As for single stream, the up front cost was for a short term contract. We sign a contract with Wheelabrator for 20 years, why can’t a contract be signed with any other trash company for more than 3 years”
SO which is it, going out to bid or long contracts that will save the resident money?
A comment about putting it out to bid…
#1 – there seems to be a feeling that the town administration takes these decisions lightly – anyone who has been around town govt knows that that could not be further from the truth. while at times i may not like the decisions of our local govt – the fact is that if anything they over analyze decisions.
#2 – what makes you think that putting it out to bid will get more competitive pricing? isn’t it possible that the current vendor is giving us a good price? in this economy we are encountering many businesses who are quoting BELOW cost. ask yourself how that is possible? if the quote is below cost for a hauler – then that means they aren’t maintaining their equipment properly or aren’t paying people fairly. pls don’t assume that competition is always required. sometimes people actually give you a fair price.
#3 – personally i do not like payt. a flat amount every month does sound better and easier than the flimsy bags that i have to remember to purchase.
#4 – it is easy to criticize and difficult to bring about change. if there is a significant issue you feel strongly about – then get involved. life is too short to worry about the little stuff.
and we have been in town 20+ years
Unlike the resident who has lived in communities where PAYT was in place, I moved to town 4.5years ago and discovered to my dismay the trash program. Personally I would like to see the cost as low as possible. I question the idea of providing incentives that cost the town money i.e. extra brush days town employees will execute. Would this be overtime as well? If incentives are provided I suggest that all persons benefit. If the town is prepared to pay for employees take that money off the top of the trash fee instead.
Going out to bid is always an option. That is a decision for the Board of Selectman. As a member of SWAC, I believe that the trash pick-up contract that we have is probably very competitive and the hauler has a good working relationship with the town. The trash program has a projected 2010 deficit of $274,000. It is unlikely that a new contract will address the immediate need to address the deficit. The hauling contract was signed 4 years ago when fuel and health care costs were half of what they are today. Any suggestions are welcomed by the committee.
Put out to Bid??? The town might be able to get a trash hauler that would be cheaper, but the level of service would not be the same. Would it be wise to sacrifice the level of service in an effort to save a few dollars? It can actually can cost MORE if a trash hauler does not “follow the rules” As a member of the Recycle Committee, I receive some of the complaint phone calls. A common one, right after Pellegrino took over our trash program was, “The trash man did not take all my trash…he only took what was in the green bag”The practice in that entire neighborhood was to fill a barrel, and put one small green bag on top. The previous trash hauler took it all!! Pellegrino puts out stickers for those who do not follow the rules that are written on the card that goes to all residents. He has trained people HOW to dispose of their recycles and trash properly. Is there really any reason that it should be ‘put out to Bid’? If it is not broken, dont fix it.
I would like to thank everyone who has posted comments on this subject. I appreciate differing views as it helps to formulate a solution.
We will never please everyone and the goal is to minimize the negative impact the change in the PAYT program will have on the majority of particpants.
thanks again.
SO which is it, going out to bid or long contracts that will save the resident money?
Clarify for me:
Clarification
As chairman of the Board of Selectman and self appointed chairman of the study committee and you don’t know that when you bid, you are bidding for the contract to do the job. The bid could be for a set job or a contract to keep a job for a period of time ( 1, 2 , 3 or more years ). The specs can very. The single stream proposal to the study committee had up front cost if they had to bid on a 3 year contract. A longer contract would have eliminated those costs. There would be no trash bags and they would supply 2 trash bins. 1 for a weekly trash pick up and 1 for a biweekly recyclables. At the time this was proposed the cost would have been less than your new proposal to the residents with bag fees and a yearly fee. As for bidding, it could attract other companies that are more modernized and more efficient in their operation which could allow them to come in at a lower price than what we now pay. I believe it is called competition. To the residents of Northborough, I urge you to call your Board of Selectman and request them to put it out to bid.
At the very least, it could reduce the cost of trash pick up.
Mr Fouracre;
You have stated “At the time this was proposed (i.e. single stream) the cost would have been less than your new proposal to the residents with bag fees and a yearly fee.”
Please explain where the numbers are to support this statement and where you may have gotten them. The SWAC spoke with the staff of a single stream facility, but we never were given any numbers. So where do you get yours?
Did you miss this SWAC open meeting (with residents in attendance) when the single stream rep discussed their system. I suggest you check the minutes of that meeting. The representative for that company compared Northborough to the town of Holden and stated a monthly fee for Holden residents was $15. per household. ($180. per year) If the average household in Northborough uses 1 small and 1 large bag a week that is $24. per month.($290. per year this includes a yearly fee) I see this difference of $110. as a savings for the town residents. There would be no trash bags and they would supply 2 trash bins. 1 for a weekly trash pick up(holds 3 large bags) and 1 for biweekly recyclables.(holds 5 large bags) You were told by this rep he would be able to give your committee a firm figure per household if you would spec your needs for your trash service (i.e. bid it out)
Mr Fouracre:
You now state that “You were told by this rep he would be able to give your committee a firm figure per household if you would spec your needs for your trash service (i.e. bid it out).” But above you state “At the time this was proposed the cost would have been less than your new proposal to the residents with bag fees and a yearly fee.”
After investigation and a visit to the facility, It was my opinion that the single stream provider had given Holden a BELOW COST bid. Holden was the first town wide customer that they signed up. Holden was the first large single-stream customer that they had and recyclables were worth good money at that time. That is not the case now and the tide was changing when we had that meeting with them. And sir, I was present at that meeting.
Pellegrino Trucking is now paying that same facility $30/ton to handle the recyclables. Whereas a few years ago the facility was paying him to drop them off. Recyclables are a commodity and the price fluctuates daily. The Pellegrino contract expires on 6/31/2010.
I love the PAYT program in Northborough. It is a fee not a tax as some have proclaimed. As a true fee you use how much you want and pay based on the amount you use. If this is all tax (or any of it a fixed amount) the benefits and incentives of a fee disappear — you get charged no matter how much you use.
We use one small bag a week and have two recycle bins plus every other week. It really doesn’t take much to separate your trash, and recycled trash is free! This is a great program and unless you can’t be bothered to recycle, it is far cheaper than private trash haulers.
Have we looked into a franchise fee for the private haulers? They use our (Northborough’s) infrastucture to run their business. They need our roads and snow plowing. That costs all the residents in Town. I feel that my taxes are subsidizing the private haulers through our road maintenance, construction and repair.
[...] Link to prior post on the subject. [...]
It would seem to me that having an annual fee eliminates the benefit of having a PAYT program. My wife & I have one daughter. We are good about splitting our trash and recycle items. We only pay for the trash we get rid of. Larger families or people who throw away a lot of items pay more. Seems like a good plan. The Northboro trash bags are poorly made. They frequently rip at the top where the strings are. I agree it is a hassel to make sure there is always a supply of small and large bags available. It would be great to put recycle items out each week, rather than try to remember if this week is a recycle week or not. I think a way to increase revenue would be to have quarterly electronics drop off dates. Or hazardous items. You might also offer a construction or home improvement dumpster bag. It is always a challenge figuring out how many weeks it will take to get rid of project materials. By the way putting a contract out to bid keeps everybody honest. I can’t imagine how this would be viewed as negative. I’m not sure what the right answers might be, but I for one would like to keep the costs of this program as low as possible. I have no issue with paying for the trash I create. I’m not excited about the thought of an annual fee on top of the individual bag prices we already pay today.
Ken: You might be pleased to know that your home improvement waste can be cut and bundled and put out with $10 bulk stickers. I use string or duct tape on the wood, carpet etc to create a manageable sized bundle, no more than 4′ long. The stickers can be purchased at Rocky’s the Stop and Shops where you buy the green trash bags.
For more information on the use of the bulk stickers, go to the town website> reports and documents link> recycling calendar.