Selectman Talkin’ Trash
The Board of Selectmen has struggled with waste management for as long as I can remember. Without ever studying the problem or consulting the electorate, our town managers have experimented with curb side pickup, a pseudo-transfer station, and, most recently, a cart system.
The cart system was quietly selected by the BoS in the spring of 2006. Each household — regardless of occupancy — was assigned a 64 gallon cart. During the rollout, you could choose a 96 gallon cart for no additional charge. You had to proactively ask for this. After the rollout, ‘upgrading’ from a 64 gallon cart to a 96 gallon cart cost $50. A second cart costs $240 per year.
We were promised savings of $36,000. Instead, the cost of collection increased $48,918.89 in 2006. Let’s not forget the fees — to upgrade your cart, have a second cart, or have an appliance removed. We pay extremely high rates for appliance removal.
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Concerned parent of two children in the TRSD school system who pays taxes and is not employed by -- or contracted to -- the town or the SAU...one of the Rest of Us