North Adams Committee Advises Transfer Station Rate Hike
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Public Services Committee will recommend the city raise trash disposal fees to $94.39 a ton.
The rate is designed to offset the actual cost of operating the transfer station, including waste disposal, salaries and benefits, utilities and supplies.
It does not include the $400,000 debt balance related to the closure of the landfill or a superintendent's position that will not be filled at this time.
The cost will round up to $2 for large bags (33 gallon) and $1 for (15 gallon). The sticker price will remain the same at $60 for now.
The committee had discussed closing the transfer station to commercial waste with the opening of a major commercial operation by TAM Waste Management Inc. in Pownal, Vt., but decided to delay that decision until it was clear how the new waste center would affect the city's facility.
"We have positioned ourselves so that if we see a significant reduction in tonnage due to the opening of the commercial plant in Pownal, we'll be able scale back the operation at the transfer station," Administrative Officer Michael Canales told the committee on Tuesday. "If for some reason we do not see a loss of tonnage, we will maintain the operation going forward."
The city will hire a seasonal worker to fill a vacant spot in the Department of Public Works and re-evaulate in the fall to determine if the post needs to be filled full time. The hours of operation of the transfer station could also be scaled back if the amount of commercial tonnage decreases; the employees would be scheduled back to the DPW if they are not needed at the transfer station.
The tonnage fees are set in ordinance. The rate has stayed at $80 per ton for some years despite the City Council approving a rate increase to $84 in 2009. The result has been a widening in the gap between revenue and expenses leading to taxpayers subsidizing the station at an extra cost of $370,000.
The total cost per bag is $1.90 for large and 84 cents for small, but Canales recommending rounding them up to $2 and $1. He said the large bags hold about 35 pounds and the smaller ones about 15 pounds.
Using averages determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Canales calculated that a family of four would pay $46.55 more a year. The goal is for residents to recycle more, thus reducing their own cost — and the city's — for disposing of waste.
The committee will not, however, recommend transferring $40,000 from the Transfer Station Reserve Account for repairs and cleanup for now.
Canales said skinning the transfer station building with new sheet metal would cost about $25,000; another $15,000 was for cleaning up the area and installing a new scale trailer that the city already has. In the future, officials would look at new signage, security and configuration to better conform with how the transfer station is used, including placing recyclables inside the building as originally intended.
But committee members were concerned that the city would fix up the building only to have it damaged again by the large haulers pulling in and out.
"Down the road, when we see how the Pownal plant is going to affect us, then maybe make additional changes," said committee member Keith Bona, suggesting the city hold off for a few months.
Chairman Joshua Moran and member Eric Buddington agreed.
"If we go to a residential [facility] ... we allow ourselves to do a proper layout, really take a look at this and craft the kind of transfer station that's going to be good for our community," Moran said. "I think this is a great opportunity for the community to craft something."
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