The Windham Solid Waste Management District Board of Supervisors voted to stop running the district鈥檚 materials-recovery facility and providing hauling services on Thursday, changing where recycling goes throughout Windham County.
鈥淏eginning in January, I want to look at the bigger picture of where this district is going,鈥� WSWMD Board of Supervisors Chairman Lou Bruso told fellow board members at the meeting.
In favor of closing the MRF were the towns of Brattleboro, Guilford, Jamaica, Newfane, Readsboro, Stratton, Vernon and Whitingham. In favor of keeping the facility open were the towns of Brookline, Dover, Dummerston, Halifax, Putney, Townshend, Wardsboro, Westminster and Wilmington. Tallied up, the vote came out to be 13-10, because Brattleboro鈥檚 vote counts for six and Westminster鈥檚 vote counts for two. Marlboro did not have a representative present at the meeting.
In a separate vote, the board kept the assessment model historically used by the district, one that鈥檚 based solely on population. Towns voting against keeping the population-based assessment model were Brattleboro, Guilford and Vernon.
The town of Brattleboro is in talks with Triple T Trucking about revising the hauling contact. Instead of going to the district鈥檚 recycling facility on Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, the town鈥檚 curbside collection will go to Casella in Rutland. That decision was made Tuesday during a Select Board meeting, two days before the WSWMD meeting.
That loss 鈥� 20 percent of the recycling tonnage collected at the district 鈥� would have meant an additional $40,000 in assessments for the district, according to WSWMD Executive Director Bob Spencer. Split between the members of the district would have been possible.
鈥淏ut is that realistic from a truly operational point of view?鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淚鈥檓 skeptical.鈥�
The decision for Brattleboro to change facilities came after Select Board member David Schoales used the town鈥檚 six votes on the WSWMD Board of Supervisors to continue running the district鈥檚 recycling facility and impose a new 20 percent surcharge on the more distant towns with transfer stations in the district. That vote, not separated in the motion when finally called at a meeting last month, upset members of the Brattleboro Select Board. The Select Board had advised Schoales to vote to close the facility and support a change in assessment that would go from a population-based model to a combination of population and grand list.
John Allen took Schoales鈥� place at the district鈥檚 budget meeting on Thursday. Members of the board of supervisors recognized Schoales and his four years of service on the board with a round of applause.
Garbage has changed over the last 30 years, Allen told the WSWMD board.
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