Solid Waste Committee Meeting ~ October 23, 2023

2023-10-23 · Solid Waste Committee · 1:32:26 · watch on YouTube →

First meeting of the Solid Waste Committee, convened by town manager Jerry Douglas to get the committee established and to set out what it is being asked to look at. Members introduced themselves, elected a chair and a secretary, and were given draft bylaws to review and adopt at the next meeting. Jerry Douglas (?) explained that the town's hauling contract, extended by one year, runs out on June 30, so something has to be in place by July 1 and a price is needed for the budget; the plan discussed was to put the existing contract out as an RFP before Thanksgiving with responses back in mid-December. Much of the meeting was background: the current contractor's move to automated collection and its wish for a five-year contract, how tipping fees follow tonnage, what a transfer station would involve, and how Yarmouth, Lisbon and Freeport handle it. The committee asked for five years of tonnage and cost figures and set its next meeting for the 13th at 6:30.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 0:26
   Introductions and the committee's remit

   Jerry Douglas opened the kickoff meeting and members introduced themselves: Milt Simon of Stackpole Road, a resident since 1982; Curtis Timick (?) of Emerson Road, a resident since about 1991; Calvin, the road commissioner, since 2015; Rachel Schofield of Runaround Pond Road, a resident since July; and Juliet Caplinger (?) of Royalsborough Road, a resident about six years. Jerry Douglas (?) said the town has a solid waste contract whose cost is rising, and the committee is to look at whether to continue curbside collection, consider a transfer station, or have residents handle it themselves.

2. 0:26
   Election of a chair

   Curtis Timick (?) was put forward as chair on the grounds that he works at a transfer station and is the most knowledgeable in the group. A motion was made and seconded and the chair called for those in favour.

3. 5:50
   Vice chair and secretary

   The discussion of a vice chair did not plainly settle on anyone; two members said they already chair or co-chair other committees, and the recording does not record an election. A member then volunteered as secretary after Jerry Douglas (?) said taking the minutes is the best way to understand what is going on, and a motion was made, seconded and put to a vote; the transcript does not identify who took the role.

4. 5:50
   Bylaws and alternates

   Jerry Douglas handed out example bylaws drafted for another committee and asked members to read them and adopt some form of bylaws at the next meeting, amending them if they wish. Asked about alternates, he said the town had not had enough volunteers but would take alternates on through the usual appointment form.

5. 5:50
   Contract expiry and the timetable

   Jerry Douglas (?) said the existing contract was extended by one year and runs out on June 30, so something has to be in place by July 1. He said the town needs a price for budget season and would rather bid than guess, and that going out to bid is the likely course.

6. 11:09
   Background material

   Members were given the contract extension and a section on solid waste and recycling from the MMA elected officials manual, with more to be printed by Jessica. Jerry Douglas (?) suggested looking at what other towns' solid waste committees do, naming Richmond as somewhat comparable.

7. 11:09
   The contractor's move to automated collection

   Jerry Douglas recapped the contractor's presentation to the select board: it wants to move to trucks with automated arms because of workers' compensation injuries and difficulty getting labour, and wants five-year contracts to justify buying the trucks. He said a nearby town's five-year deal priced only the first two years, with years three to five tied to the consumer price index. He also said few haulers want municipal residential curbside work, so a bid to five or six firms might produce only one or two responses.

8. 16:38
   Tonnage and tipping fees

   Jerry Douglas (?) said tipping fees are charged on tonnage, so educating residents to reduce tonnage reduces cost, and that the only way to budget is to estimate from the last couple of years. Members asked for the town's tonnages and for a five-year history of what has been paid for recycling and for MSW; the 2022 total quoted from page three of the contract is not clear in the recording.

9. 22:20
   Risk of taking the lowest bid

   Jerry Douglas recalled a previous bid where the select board did not take the lowest price, in the same year that a plow contractor for a town walked off and left the trucks on the road, and where the low bidder turned out not to have the trucks claimed. He said the lowest price is not always the best value and that the committee will have to weigh a known contractor against an unknown one.

10. 22:20
    Three-year history and the pandemic

    The contract packet shows what was collected over the last three years, with a decrease from 2021 to 2022. Jerry Douglas attributed the earlier figures to the volume of household renovation waste generated during the pandemic and said 2023 may be lower again.

11. 22:20
    Regional transfer station and how it would be studied

    Jerry Douglas (?) said he has spoken to a neighbouring town, whose name is garbled in the recording, that likes the idea of a regional transfer station, and that the town has vacant land he would identify for the committee. He said the process would be an RFQ for consultants, presentations from three or four, then a feasibility study, and that the design would have to allow for future tonnage rather than today's.

12. 27:35
    Trash tags and automated collection

    Members noted that tags currently cost $3 each and that with automated trucks tags would not work, since the driver cannot see what is in the container, so a pay-as-you-throw bag that the hauler recognises would be needed.

13. 27:35
    Recycling costs and containers

    Asked whether pushing recycling would save money, the answer was that it depends on the town's own rates, and that some towns are dropping recycling because it costs more than trash. On automated collection, the containers either have to be bought by the town or managed by the hauler, and the replacement cost when a container disappears is a difference between the two.

14. 27:35
    Bid timetable and the budget

    The plan discussed was to put the bid out in December, hold it open about three weeks, and have responses back in time to put a number in the budget. Jerry Douglas (?) said the previous contract was not signed until May, which was too close to the June 30 expiry, and that the warrant has to be settled by about mid-February.

15. 32:41
    What the town votes on

    Jerry Douglas (?) said solid waste is a line item rather than a separate warrant article, though bulky waste day could be put on the warrant. He said the budget figure has to be close, because a shortfall would mean calling a special town meeting to make it up.

16. 32:41
    History of transfer station proposals in Durham

    A member asked why the idea had not been received well in the past and what has changed. The answers given were that the cost of trash has risen substantially and that siting was the objection, since the land would be in somebody's back yard.

17. 32:41
    What a transfer station requires

    Curtis Timick (?) said a full transfer facility needs about five acres, though a limited operation could work on two or three, depending on what the town wants it to do. He described Yarmouth, which he said is the only facility left in Maine with both a transfer station and a construction landfill, running pay-as-you-throw bags, product stewardship programs for light bulbs and batteries, brush and demolition handling, and composting including carcass composting.

18. 37:46
    How neighbouring towns charge

    At Yarmouth a large bag is $2 and a small about $1.25 through a third party agency, and a vehicle sticker is required; the figures given for the sticker in the recording conflict, with $25, $50 and $2 all mentioned. In Freeport and Yarmouth residents arrange and pay for their own curbside pickup, and in Lisbon residents either hire a hauler or use the transfer station. Charges for construction debris were described as about $30 a cubic yard.

19. 37:46
    No transfer station by July

    It was agreed a transfer station could not be in place by July even with the money in hand. The short-term choice is to continue curbside collection and put it out to bid, or to stop and have residents arrange their own hauling, with the point made that private haulers will take almost anything but that arrangement carries its own liabilities.

20. 42:52
    Putting the RFP out

    Jerry Douglas (?) said he would send the existing contract out largely unchanged, with 2023 tonnages added once collected, and would contact Casella, Triano, Riverside and others directly as well as posting it on the MMA site and the town website. He said Casella will only entertain a five-year contract because it will be buying a truck, and that other bids on shorter terms could then be compared.

21. 48:04
    Cost of curbside and consulting residents

    The current curbside service was put at around $300,000 a year. A member asked whether the town could ask residents how they would feel about a transfer station; Jerry Douglas (?) said a survey could be run, GPCOG could help set it up, and public meetings, the newsletter and the news blast could be used when the committee reaches that point.

22. 48:04
    Whether residents would use a transfer station

    Members discussed whether people accustomed to curbside collection would drive their trash, what the saving would mean per taxpayer, and the risk that removing a service leads to trash being dumped by the roadside. It was noted Durham is a bedroom community with little commercial base, so services fall on residents.

23. 48:04
    Composting as a way to cut tonnage

    A member suggested looking at what it would cost to set up composting at public works, with Bath cited as a city that has done so. Concerns (?) raised were attracting animals, the need for a permit, and that food and cat litter are heavy and add directly to tonnage.

24. 53:17
    Bulky waste day

    The collection cost is fixed regardless of volume, with tipping fees on top, and members discussed whether bulky waste day should go back on the warrant. Pricing quoted was $1,700 an hour for five trucks over about six hours, plus $125 a ton for waste, $150 for tires and $175 for a further category; the total figures in the recording conflict, with $12,000, $1,200 and $17,000 all mentioned against a warrant amount described as under $12,000. Calvin and the school were credited with running the event well, and it was noted that without it public works ends up collecting couches from around town anyway.

25. 58:21
    Containers and residents' costs under automation

    Members asked whether a household could have more than one container, what the containers and their maintenance would cost residents, and how that compares with the current $3 tags. It was noted that a bag left outside a closed lid would not be collected.

26. 1:03:23
    Practical problems with containers

    A member said on Royalsborough Road a container will not stand at the roadside and has to go in the ditch, and that snow banks push containers into the road. It was said the trucks have cameras so the driver can see what goes in.

27. 1:03:23
    Advice against the town collecting its own trash

    Jerry Douglas (?) said the one option he would steer the committee away from is the town running collection itself with its own crew and truck, because of workers' compensation exposure. He added that automation should reduce the contractor's workers' compensation costs and so offset the equipment cost.

28. 1:08:31
    Keeping the RFP open to all bidders

    Members and Jerry Douglas agreed the RFP should not be written in a way that specifies automated or manual collection, because vendor-specific language would exclude bidders and could leave only one response. The same document would go to every firm rather than different versions to different companies.

29. 1:13:37
    Data (?) requested by the committee

    Members asked for at least five years of figures covering tonnages and what was paid for recycling and for MSW under the previous contract, so trends could be compared. Jerry Douglas agreed to provide the financial history.

30. 1:18:38
    Ecomaine

    The committee discussed Ecomaine, which burns trash for energy and recovers metals, and the distinction between owner communities that control it and communities that pay to take part. Durham's trash used to go there; the point was made that the haul is long and the trucking cost would be higher, and that buying into Ecomaine is a long-term step comparable to building a transfer station.

31. 1:24:04
    Housing numbers and future volumes

    Figures given for the town were about 1,600 dwellings, with population figures of 1,700 and 4,100 both mentioned and conflicting. A member raised proposed state legislation allowing a second dwelling on a residential lot as something that could increase the volume collected.

32. 1:29:30
    Next meeting and adjournment

    Members discussed meeting times and settled on 6:30, with the next meeting on the 13th, and suggested inviting a vendor to answer questions the committee cannot answer itself. A motion to adjourn was made and seconded; the result is not audible in the recording.

What was decided

• 0:26
  Elect Curtis Timick (?) as chair of the Solid Waste Committee; a motion was made, seconded and put to those in favourpassed
• 5:50
  Elect a secretary; a member volunteered and the motion was made, seconded and put to those in favour, but the transcript does not identify who took the rolepassed
• 5:50
  Elect a vice chair; the discussion did not plainly settle on anyone and no result is recorded in the transcriptoutcome unclear
• 5:50
  Members to review the draft bylaws and adopt them at the next meeting; agreed without a voteoutcome unclear
• 42:52
  Jerry Douglas to put the existing contract out as an RFP with 2023 tonnages added, sending it to Casella, Triano, Riverside and others before Thanksgiving with responses back in December; agreed without a vote, and members asked for time to review the document firstoutcome unclear
• 1:29:30
  Next meeting set for the 13th at 6:30, then a motion to adjourn, moved and seconded; the result is not audibleoutcome unclear

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

• 48:04
  The current curbside service was put at around $300,000 a year, and Jerry Douglas (?) asked what it will be in five years if costs keep rising.
• 5:50
  The extended hauling contract runs out on June 30 and something must be in place by July 1. The timetable discussed was a bid out before Thanksgiving or in December, responses back around mid-December, and the warrant settled by mid-February.
• 11:09
  The current contractor is moving to automated collection because of workers' compensation injuries and labour shortages, and will only entertain a five-year contract. A nearby town's five-year contract priced only the first two years, with years three to five tied to the consumer price index.
• 53:17
  Bulky waste day was quoted at $1,700 an hour for five trucks over about six hours, plus $125 a ton for waste, $150 for tires and $175 for a further category. The total figures in the recording conflict, with $12,000, $1,200 and $17,000 all mentioned.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 1 passage of motion language, against 6 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

2024-05-13 Solid Waste Committee →All meetings