05/02/2023 TSC Minutes

Draft Minutes of May 2, 2023 Meeting of Transfer Station Committee

 

Present were Chris, Nancy, Margaret and Andrea. Meeting commenced at Town Hall at 6:33 PM.

There was no Public Input

Much of the meeting was devoted to a review and revision of the draft PowerPoint for the required USDA Public Information Meeting

Nancy showed the draft on a large screen, and the following changes were agreed to:

1. Slide 1. Margaret noted that “Bethlehem” was misspelled. It was also suggested that the proposed date, time, and place could be added if the Select Board approves a firm date at its May 15^th meeting. It was finally suggested that the slide note that the PowerPoint was prepared by the Transfer Station Committee.
2. Slide 3 (Mission). Andrea suggested putting in the date that the TS Committee was established: 2017.

 

3. Slide 4.This slide is going to be dropped, and the NH triangle of most preferred methods of disposal will be transferred to Slide 9, replacing the coffee cup in slide 9.

 

4. Slide 5 (now becomes Slide 4). In the second bullet “After the NCES landfill closes……” replace “there will be no trash pickup service” with “current trash collection and disposal services will cease.”. Reword the third bullet to read “The nearest landfill, Mt. Carberry, is 40 miles away.”

 

5. Slide 6 (now becomes Slide 5). Replace the title “Alternatives to a Bethlehem Transfer Station” with “Other Options Considered Before Recommending a Bethlehem Transfer Station”. Add under use of a neighboring TS “short term solution of unknown availability and costs” Add under the NCES TS option “Town already owns land with engineering plans”. Add under curbside pickup “Too Expensive!”

 

6. On Slide 7 (which is now Slide 6), crop out the goats and water.

 

7. On Slide 9, replace the coffee cup with the NH triangle of preferred waste disposal hierarchy.

 

8. On Slide 10, delete “Total MSW Landfill by Materials 2018 146.1 Million Tons” and replace with “Most Of What Goes Into A Landfill Is Unnecessary”.
9. Put Slide 12 (Plastic impact on our health) as Slide 7, following “A Modern Transfer Station Is Necessary).
10. On Slide 13 (PAYT), which now becomes Slide 12, delete the phrase “without subsidizing others” under “Fairness”.

NOTE: All of the following slides have new numbers (one less), but references are to the old numbers for the remaining changes.

11. On the old Slide 19 (Reasons for Phased approach) delete the word “actual” where it says “collecting actual data”. Delete the entire bottom statement concerning “Ongoing evaluation….”
12. On the old Slide 20 (Phase 1 Cost Estimate) add “USDA grant requirement – all equipment and material must be made in the USA.”
13. On the old Slide 21, replace the last sentence with “The Town will continue to seek additional grants to reduce costs to taxpayers”
14. On the old Slide 22, where it says “Less than 3% impact on the Town’s budget”, add the word “municipal” so that it reads “Town’s municipal budget”
15. On the old Slide 23 (Projected Operating Budget) move up the reference to the Select Board has yet to consider a budget to the top. This should be followed by “An estimated, first year operating budget is $193,0000. Estimated revenues $119,000. Net budget impact, $74,000.” Then put in the remaining two bullets.

 

It is anticipated that the Committee will post the powerpoint on the Town’s website, which is why it is a bit more busy than a traditional powerpoint.

There was a discussion on the best time and place to recommend to the Select Board for scheduling the public information meeting.  It was decided to recommend a June 21^st date at 6PM at Town Hall.

Barry and Nancy provided an update on the first meeting of the Sustainability Working Group.  The Group will meet more frequently until it establishes a mission statement and subcommittees.  Among its tasks will be to fill in the gaps that are not covered by existing commissions and boards (such as mass transportation), to help facilitate a coordination of commissions and boards when there is an issue of mutual concern, and to make recommendations on sustainability. The next meeting of the Group is scheduled for May 23^rd.

There was a discussion on other potential grant opportunities.  Barry brought up the possibility of seeking donations from New Hampshire the Beautiful and Mascoma Bank.  It was agreed that before the Committee makes any further communications regarding grant opportunities they first be brought up to the Select Board.

There was unanimous approval of the April 1 and April 4, 2023 minutes, with Andrea abstaining since she did not attend.

Under “other business” the next edition of Just Be Greener was discussed.  It was agreed that it should contain a notice of the public information meeting, and perhaps address the issue of textiles.

The next meeting date was set for May 31^st, but to commence at 6 PM as opposed to 6:30.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.