Gray Solid Waste & Recycling Committee
Meeting Minutes for Wednesday,
October 13th, 2006, 5:30 p.m., Stimson Hall
Review of monthly Transfer Station Data.
PAYT as an option. To be able to evaluate other options against a PAYT plan, it is essential to flesh out what PAYT would look like in Gray. This meeting we will design a PAYT program as we believe it would appear in Gray. Remember, for this exercise, money is no object! We must focus on devising a plan that we believe would work if it were implemented! The plan should include the best options for the following:
Materials- bags? tags? stickers? other materials?
Machinery- what would Gray need- scales? cash register? more or newer compactors? traffic controls? other machinery?
Logistics and process flow- how would traffic flow? what is the step by step process a resident would take to recycle and dispose of trash? What would be the ideal layout for the transfer station to make PAYT work? (imagine that money is no object. only a successful program)
People- new staff? change in job duties?
Training and education for staff and residents.
Recycling bins purchase with Raymond. (see below)
PAYT option discussion - This work assumes that a town decision was made to implement a PAYT program and that the committee was instructed to design it.
After a lively discussion, the committee came to the following conclusions about what would be proposed as a PAYT program for Gray:
Gray would opt for the use of clear 30 gallon bags to be sold at local retailers.
The cost of the bags would be approximately $1.50. This is substantially less than is required to offset tipping and transportation costs of trash hauled to RWS (now ECOMaine).
Randy demonstrated that a PAYT program used to offset all the costs of tipping fees and transportation would not lower the mil rate of residents significantly.
The committee agreed that IF a PAYT program was implemented, it's purposes should be limited to the following:
As an incentive program to encourage residents to recycle by charging a modest charge for bags. We believe that requiring people to pay $1.50 or even less per bag would be enough of an incentive to get more people to recycle. The cost of the bags would be applied to paying Transfer Station operations costs. A small reduction in the mil rate might be achieved.
As an alternate or additional method of identifying non-residents or deterring non-residents from bringing out-of-town trash to the Gray Transfer Station. Currently the dump sticker program and alert Transfer Station employees and Gray residents is the only means of identifying and stopping non-residents. We believe that people who are looking for a free ride for getting rid of trash will balk at having to buy Gray bags.
The committee identified the following items that would need to be addresses to enable a limited PAYT program to operate effectively:
Machinery: Scales for weighing truckloads of trash. A horizontal baler, which is a more efficient device for compacting recyclable. This would be required to handle an expected increase in recycled items.
Materials: Choose a bag vendor and sign up local retailers to stock and sell them.
Personnel: Four full-time employees and 2 part-time employees would be required.
Yard layout and traffic flow: The transfer station would need to be expanded and laid out in a more efficient pattern. Traffic flow issues must be addressed to prevent bottlenecks.
Education: Residents and employees would need to be notified prior to the commencement of the program. Multiple avenues of instruction and education would need to be used. The concerns of residents would need to be addressed. Transfer Station employees would need to be advised as to new duties.
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