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09/07/17 TSC Minutes

Transfer Station Committee

Bethlehem, NH

 

Minutes of the Meeting

September 7, 2017

This is the first meeting of the Transfer Station Committee.

Committee members attending the meeting briefly mentioned the skills and concerns they bring to the table:

Jerry Blanchard: budget; was on the Selectboard last time

Chris McGrath:  planning, warrant articles, waste-water permits, license w/DES.

Jim Martin:  Certified to run a transfer station , construction supervisor, knows DES
regulations.

Dan:  wants the plan to be zero taxes for homeowner.

Julie Seely:  a “numbers person”, data, the School Board budget.

Brett Jackson:  was there for the Rte 116 site.  Road agent

Jeanne Robillard: Former Selectboard member, worked on original transfer station, has those plans, can provide a template for a work plan.

Leslie Dreier:  Former PB member, want to see how we proceed, has
knowledge agreements of provider.

Barry Zitser: retired attorney, experience with landfill operations in Connecticut,recycling, and history. Sued landfills, never worked for a landfill.  Has a link to DES regulations concerning transfer stations available to any member who desire it.

Mary Moritz: Select Board member, budgeting, DES, legal.

Katherine Darges:  technical writer, has written requirements and compliance
documents, requests for proposals, and proposals.

Andrea Bryant:  wants a state-of-the-art facility, wants to see new a way. Former planning board member

 

 

The objectives of the committee, as set by the Board of Selectmen are:

1. Transfer station including future warrant articles for the capital reserve fund
2. To determine current DES rules and regulations regarding the operations and equipment of the transfer station
3. To establish a time line of implementation
4. To obtain options of differing levels of service to be evaluated
5. To consider all options
6. To take public input
First Steps:

After a poll of the members, the group decided that the Transfer Station Committee will continue to meet weekly on Thursdays at 6:30 PM for the next few weeks.  Depending on the workload, the committee may change the meeting schedule to allow for meetings of projected sub-committees.

The committee briefly discussed the timetable established by the Board of Selectmen.  The Transfer Station Committee is expected to report to the Board during November, 2017, that will be put into a warrant article for March.

Ms Robillard will provide a template for a work plan that will take the committee’s objectives turn them into guidelines regarding what needs to be done, in what order, the necessary steps, and expected outcomes.

The Transfer Station Committee then began a top-level discussion regarding some possible actions in the near future.

• By law, the town has the obligation to plan for solid waste needs of its citizens.
• What is needed in a transfer station?
• Perhaps Bethlehem could partner with another town for its waste removal needs.
• What would it cost to renovate and bring into compliance the former transfer station on Route 116?  Ms Robillard still has the plans for the old one.
• When they designed the last one looked at: traffic, study how much room,
• Field trip to the Route 116 site to get an idea of its current condition.
• What would it cost to lease the current transfer station from Casella?
• Bethlehem voted NO to expansion so now options is our own transfer station.
BEthlehem also voted no to the Host Community Agreement.
• Look for a parcel of land owned by the Town as a site for the station.
• Look at work that has been done before to solve the trash removal problem so that we do not duplicate efforts from previous studies.
• What equipment will we need to buy?  Backhoe, trash compactor, 3-phase power, permits, roads, driveway.
Have place for compost
• Could a company be hired to take away Bethlehem’s recycling from the transfer station?
• Big incentive to recycle if people have to pay per bag for what they throw away.
• Research trips to other facilities such as Twin Mountain & Lisbon (similar in size to Bethlehem), Hollis, NH (showplace for state-of-the art trash management), a transfer station in VT now that composting is separated out.
• Twin Mountain has large storage containers for their recycling so that they can hold it until they can get good prices for what they recycle.
• If a third party was willing to take recycling would that be cost effective?   Is there a recycling company that town could hire?
North Country Counsel has done a full cost accounting.  Linda Moore (Select board member in the audience) asked him to send report compatible to us. Have Reagan Pride come to our committee meeting.  [who?] will contact him to find out when he will be available.

Next Steps:

The next meeting of the Transfer Station Committee will be held on Thursday, September 14.

• If Reagan Pride is available the meeting will begin at 6:30 PM.
• If Mr. Pride is not available at that time, the committee will meet at 6:15 PM at the former transfer station site on Route 116.
Start filling in the work plan template to define specific tasks and priorities.