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The Selectmen held a public hearing on Wednesday night about the proposal for a transfer station.

Adams Officials Hear From Residents on Planned Transfer Station

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — There seemed little enthusiasm Wednesday night for the idea of establishing a transfer station at the old town dump on East Road. 
 
Residents at the public hearing held by the Selectmen raised concerns over costs, the effect on local haulers, and the necessity of the town accepting solid waste. The board plans to formally vote on the proposal next week.
 
Over the past two years, the town has considered turning the recycling center on East Road into a transfer station that accepts solid waste. Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said the station would be a "pay-as-you-throw system." 
 
The town purchased a compacter and erected a small shed for the attendant and plans to install electricity. National Grid will power the station this summer now that town meeting has approved an easement.
 
Resident Jeffrey Lefebvre said he did not like the idea of adding another fee, especially when brush removal has been free in the past at the recycling center
 
"My concern is that everything is becoming a fee and I don't think that is the way it should be," he said. "The taxes are going up, the fees are going up and we are one of poorest communities in the state yet we pay top dollar."
 
Mazzucco said the recycling center is currently free but the town still has to pay to remove the recyclables and brush that the center accepts. He said this cost gets passed on to the taxpayer anyways. 
 
"We spend about $30,000 a year to dispose of the recycling so that is a cost to you as a taxpayer. You are paying whether or not you use it," he said. "It is fairer to the taxpayer to have the user of the service pay for it ... right now, you have a free-rider problem."
 
Lefebvre added that he was also concerned that with a fee, people will just dump their trash and avoid the permit altogether.
 
Selectman Joseph Nowak said he had an overarching concern about trash in town and was not sure if a full-service transfer station would stop those who litter.
 
"Waste that is just thrown on the side of the road, this has been going on in this community forever," Nowak said. "If you want to see trash from mattresses to refrigerators, anything you want, just go up past Oak Turn there is so much trash down there ... really any back road in this community."
 
Mazzucco agreed.
 
"People that want to get their trash hauled will get it hauled, people who want to bring it to the transfer station will do that and people who want to dump their trash on the side of the road will continue to do that," he said. "If you are someone who is bad enough to dump a mattress in a river, I don't think a transfer station will stop you." 
 
Resident Scott Cernik said he felt offering this new option could hurt local trash haulers.
 
"Will this have a direct effect on the haulers and will it take away from our local businesses and narrow those local businesses?" he asked. "This will have an effect on the small-business man." 
 
Mazzucco said the transfer station subcommittee looked at this and found that it would not affect large commercial haulers and some of these haulers may even use the transfer station.
 
"They have to pay to bring their trash somewhere so this may become an attractive option for them," he said. "The rest is about choice and what works best for people. Just about every other community in the area has solid waste at their transfer station and they all have private haulers." 
 
Nowak, however, said the effect on commercial haulers was still a concern to him
 
"That is my main concern with this whole thing and I am not quite satisfied yet," he said. "I'm worried about the small-business guy who has an old beat-up truck that is trying to make a living."
 
Resident Corey Bishop who is co-owner of Bishop West Real Estate said he thinks people will keep using private haulers if that is what they are used to. 
 
"We haul our own trash for 60 plus apartments and I can tell you that most people will not give up the private hauler because they do not want to deal with trash," he said. "Who wants to deal with nasty trash today I can tell you it’s pretty nasty with the heat."
 
North Adams' transfer station is open to non-residents for a higher fee. It has also seen a dramatic decrease in use by large haulers, who are going to a commercial facility in Vermont, and is considering reducing its permitted size to correspond with its smaller volume. It would still accept small, pickup haulers. 
 
In other business, the board announced that "Movies Under the Stars" will continue this summer at the Visitors Center. The dates are July 7, 14, 21, 28 and Aug. 4 and 8. The movies are free and start at 7:30.

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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