BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Special Meeting Minutes
Town Office Building December 20, 2010
Selectmen’s Conference Room 1:00 P.M.
First Selectman Mailhos called the meeting to order at 1:17 P.M. with the following in attendance: Selectman Millix & Blessington with Donna Latinscics; Business Manager, Lynn Nicholls, Dave Nash, Jeff Hansen and Residents.
First Selectman Mailhos stated that Selectman Blessington suggested the Transfer Station Operators be invited to this meeting to discuss the operations there. First Selectman Mailhos agreed that it would be best to invite them as they could answer any questions that may arise.
Lynn has submitted a proposed budget that has reductions of $22,000 in the overall trash line item. According to Willimantic Waste, we will not be charged for dumpster rentals for this year and possibly into next year. The Transfer Station budgets were done by the former First Selectman at the time, and we were apparently overpaying. We were also being charged for the compactors.
Discussion was held on contractors who bring waste up there. Most contractors only use their business permits, but there is no way for them to prove that the waste is not coming from Town. Lynn said it should not be their responsibility to police the situation. A list of permits should be coming from Land Use to prove that permits have been pulled. There are three types of permits that need to be pulled. Mark Palmer said to check the wording in the ordinances, which may specify commercial permits and lets business dump all of their generated trash. There may be a limit on it. First Selectman Mailhos will look into it.
Selectman Millix said that there is a gaping hole that needs to be addressed and if we cannot find a way to enforce the rules, we will keep dealing with the same issues. He would be curious to see what other Towns do in this case. Jeff Hansen said that it will help to have car registration numbers on the stickers. Lynn said that she talked to Stafford and they don’t care who goes to their Transfer Station because they charge everyone who goes there. They also have three employees: one is dedicated to collecting money, one mans the scale and one runs the station.
Selectman Blessington suggested that the Solid Waste Advisory Committee should be reinstated to look into it and make recommendations. Lynn said that the former Chairman of that Committee did go before the Board of Selectmen years ago, and the Board would not even talk to them and the Committee gave up. Mr. Palmer said that the Solid Waste Committee was only formed to transition the Transfer Station from the Landfill. Selectman Blessington said that we aren’t going to change the ordinance today; we are here to work on the budget. Lynn said that a lot of the contracts go through MIDNEROC and we do not have control over a lot of them. Some of the contracts change in January and we don’t know what they entail until mid month.
Selectman Millix said we should be charging people when we get charged to dispose of things. Lynn suggested starting charging for coupon books.
Jim Poole suggested that revenue-neutral items should have a different recognition, rather than taking out of the budget and putting back in. Making Board of Finance aware of it might go a long way. Lynn said the receipts are broken down, so we are aware of where the money comes from. Donna said this is how we do the accounting.
Selectman Blessington then said that the reason why he asked to hold this meeting was because of things that were said at earlier meetings like the proposal to save money by cutting hours at the Transfer Station. He said he we should not reduce hours or staff at the Transfer Station. The other discussion was to see if we should start generating revenue. If so, the ordinance would need to be changed. Lynn said the permit goes through the State. Next year, when we go through the permit process, they may mandate what will be done.
Selectman Millix asked what the revenue is from the Transfer Station. Is there a real number that can be realized to consider. Lynn said last year $4,038 was collected from disposal.
Selectman Blessington said that after comparing our budget to Ashford’s we are both very close, and doesn’t see any other way to save money unless we do something radical like cutting hours, and/or people, which is something he does not want to do. The only other option would be to change the ordinance to start charging.
Selectman Millix asked the two operators what they would like to see that could reduce the expenditures there. Jeff Hansen said perhaps we can look into bigger containers, to reduce hauling costs, but it all depends on what is brought in. Selectman Millix would be interested to see if we could get compactors for the bulky waste which could increase savings. Dave Nash said that we need to be sure the Transfer Station could accommodate it, and Lynn said we would also need to get approval from Planning and Zoning as well as the State.
Lynn said we are starting to see revenue from the single stream recycling. Also, metal is up this year.
First Selectman Mailhos said it behooves us to do what we can to increase the single stream recycling, as this reduces the amount of trash (that we pay for) and increases recycled waste (that we get paid for). That is one of the reasons why other Towns have gone to the “pay as you throw” bags. Dave Nash said if we went that route would be a big mistake. First Selectman Mailhos agreed that it would not go over well, but would at least make some money. She is not advocating for it, but it is an option. Jim Poole said when Coventry went to paying for bags, the road crews worked a lot of overtime picking up bags off the side of the road.
Selectman Blessington said he is personally satisfied with the Transfer Station budget and doesn’t see there are any changes to be made. If we decide to increase revenue, it would be a separate issue. First Selectman Mailhos agreed with Selectman Blessington that it is running well the way it is, although she is wondering if it would be advantageous if we cut a few hours on a Wednesday, or even on a Saturday. Jeff said that Wednesday they take care of a lot of tasks that they can’t get to over the weekend such as greasing machines, raking leaves, paperwork and pick ups.
Lynn suggested going to 10 hours on Wednesday and Saturday and cut to 4 hours on a Sunday, to cut double time for fill-in employees. The problem is Sunday is one of the busiest days. Jim Poole asked if the facility could run on one person. Jeff said it would not run efficiently or safely and it depends on the day.
First Selectman Mailhos said that we have already reduced the budget by 7.8%. The guys have done a great job at reducing the bulky and the trash. Selectman Millix said that after talking to many residents, they seem to be happy with the way things are being run up there and like it the way it is. Jim Poole said that cutting $40,000 on a $255,000 budget is not good enough. His opinion is that he believes they can cut an additional $40,000 out of the budget. He said he can’t tell you where because he doesn’t work there, but it can be done.
Selectman Millix said that we need to empower the operators to use their authority to enforce the laws up there. They are the only ones who are there on a regular basis. First Selectman Mailhos offered support and said if they need anything to help them do their jobs to let her know.
Selectman Blessington moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:29 P.M.
Selectman Millix seconded the motion.
Vote: 3 Yes (Mailhos, Millix & Blessington) 0 No.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Campbell
Administrative Assistant
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