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Date: 11/17/2020
MONTGOMERY – The Recycling Committee is recommending a change to the way residents in town recycle with the goal of lowering the projected cost.
Committee members Chris Brown and Karen Bouquillon brought a resolution to the Board of Health on Nov. 12 and will be hosting an informational meeting in December for residents before a vote will be taken on the proposal. The third member of the committee Ellen Moyer was not present at the meeting.
Montgomery does not have a town dump. Residents pay for private haulers to pick up their trash, or make other arrangements to dispose of it. Currently, the town pays for a private hauler to pick up recycling at town residences every other week, and is the only community in the state that has curbside recycling without trash pickup, said Bouquillon. Recycling is a by-law in Montgomery.
As with all of the towns in Massachusetts, the cost of recycling is going up. The service the town provides cost $35,000 last year, and increasing to over $40,000 this year to cover the cost of hauling and recyclables.
Board of Health member and Selectman Michael Morrissey said the cost was formerly paid out of free cash, but was changed this year to a warrant article in the budget “instead of being hidden in free cash,” he said.
Brown said not all residents participate in recycling, and the cost is “frightfully expensive.” The Recycling Committee is proposing that private haulers take over the recycling pick up at the residences they serve for waste disposal.
The new resolution requires all private haulers operating in the town of Montgomery to provide a bundled service for residents with both solid waste and recyclables collection. Additionally, all private haulers wishing to collect and transport waste materials within the town must obtain a permit at the cost of $50 annually and file a reporting form prior to renewing the permit at the end of the year.
Brown and Bouquillon said the permitting process would give the Board of Health information and enforcement over recycling by requiring haulers to provide the service, which they said most of them already offer.
The town will continue to offer bulk waste removal once a year, as they do now. They will also contract with New England Disposable Technologies (NEDT) in Westfield to dispose of household and electronic hazardous waste once a year.
Bouquillon said the committee received guidance from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Municipal Assistance Coordinator Veronique Blanchard, who provided them with a template for the resolution, and encouraged the town to adopt it.
The resolution would go into effect Jan. 1, 2021, and the town-sponsored curbside recycling would discontinue July 1, 2021.
The informational meeting will give residents a chance to ask questions. Brown said not all residents may be in favor of the change, as there are people in town without a hauler who use the recycling portion of what the town offers. The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10 at 7:15 p.m. There will also be a zoom connection available. Brown suggests calling Town Hall at 862-3386 to pre-register and voice any opinions.
Brown and Bouquillon said the Recycling Committee is going to stay active in educating residents about recycling, and will help people to understand what their options are. They said they are trying to make sure everybody is as involved as they want to be.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Morrissey, who is also chairman of the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Health then voted to approve the resolution.
More information will be in the December issue of the town newsletter, “Mountain Breeze.”