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| By Sarah M. Corigliano Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Shortly after the Board of Selectmen decided on a new trash contract in early May, the phones at The Reminder office started ringing more frequently. Some residents expressed disgust at the new program, others said it is confusing, and others wanted to share figures they had researched showing that the new contract will not actually save the town or taxpayers any money. One group of residents mobilized quickly after realizing at their children's soccer game that a large number of people in town are dissatisfied with the Board's decision. They started circulating a petition and, in a matter of four days, more than exceeded the required 200 signatures to request a Special Town Meeting on the subject of trash disposal in town. These three residents are Edward Zemba, Charles Christianson and Trisha Dalessio. The group said their main concern is communication. Zemba said the group would prefer to avoid actually bringing the topic to a Special Town Meeting, but they will if they feel it is necessary. "Our goal is not to create a mob environment with pitchforks and torches," Christianson said. "We want to create an environment with healthy, open discussion." The group said that it's quite possible that, at the end of all this, they might agree with the Board of Selectmen that the new trash collection program was the right choice to make. But they said they are primarily concerned with what they say is a lack of communication on the part of the Board throughout the two-year research process and resulting vote. "Not a single person saw anything in two and a half years," Christianson said. Zemba added that, at last Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, his impression from the Board was that this decision and the resulting vocal dissatisfaction on the part of many town residents is a direct result of the lack of involvement of residents. "I don't think that's fair," he said. "Maybe there was an effort made [to update residents along the way of the progress of the Solid Waste Advisory Team (S.W.A.T.) and the possibilities for a new trash contract], but based on the fact that 100 percent [of the people I approached] signed the petition, that to mean means an attempt to communicate failed." The three residents said they attended the Selectmen's meeting not just to voice their disappointment, but also to ask questions about the program and how it was conceived. However, they said, during the Public Hearing session of the meeting, the Selectmen voted not to allow any questions, which they are legally allowed to do. The three residents contend that no substantial amount of money will be saved with the new contract, since they say town documents show trash production and the cost of disposal have been rising very slowly over the last couple of years. "According to the Town Accountant, the tonnage increased by 1.9 percent from 2003 to 2004," Dalessio said. "For 2004 to 2005, the forecast is that it will increase by approximately one percent." The residents also said they think the S.W.A.T. team did a good job of researching the town's options but they think the Selectmen did not do enough to update and gain feedback from the town as the process went forward. "Maybe we're missing something," Zemba said. But he said the group feels the responsibility to get some answers in order to better understand how the decision was made. Christianson added that he looked at figures related to the cost of trash removal and disposal and the amount that those costs increase each year, as well as the amount of trash generated, and his conclusion was that the town could save $70,000 by staying with the current contractor, with bi-weekly unlimited pickup, for the next year. "If you take a small percentage of that [savings] and apply it to recycling education [you might get people to recycle beyond the current limits]," Christianson said. "It's been discussed that by recycling more we'll save the town money, and we'll have more money for education," Zemba said. "Why not harness that connection with [education] and get families behind a real recycling effort." He said that when a new rule is imposed upon people, the tendancy is to "push back." "You should give people the opportunity to participate," he added. "We could voluntarily improve our tipping fees by recycling." The group said the town seems to be a taking a "rather militant position," and that it did not have to be this way. On June 20, there is a Special Town Meeting with five articles on the warrant. These articles cover zoning bylaw changes, a storm drain easement, and adoption of the Community Preservation Act. The night after, June 21, the Selectmen will host a meeting to provide information on the trash collection program at 7 p.m. "We encourage all residents to attend both meetings," Zemba said. "However, if they can only attend one, we ask that they attend the meeting on the 21st." *** Last week, the Board of Selectmen took the opportunity to explain the trash program further and provided a history of the research and decision making process behind the new contract (for the Selectmen's full account please see the Letters section.) Board Chairman John Claffey said the Board extended the current contract for an extra year in order to wait and see if a regional contract between East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Wilbraham would have saved the towns money. Claffey also said there was strong evidence from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection that waste reduction programs in other parts of the state resulted in a 25 to 30 percent reduction in the tonnage of waste produced. Claffey said this reduction was the result of recycling efforts increasing 20 to 25 percent. "Based on FY2005 costs and projected costs for FY2006, the town could realize a cost benefit somewhere in the area of $200,000," Claffey said. "This figure is based on actual savings and some cost-avoidance projections money that we will not have to ask the taxpayers for because we have changed our tax collection system." The Board of Selectmen have scheduled a Trash and Recycling Information Night on June 21 at the East Longmeadow High School auditorium. Executive Secretary Nick Breault said this meeting will include: a history of the S.W.A.T. meetings and resulting decisions; telling the community who is involved in the trash/recycling program; and information about how the program will work. Breault added that residents will also have the opportunity to ask about the program and how it will work. |