By PATRICK ADRIAN
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — After they listened to resident concerns about upcoming transfer station changes, the Springfield Selectboard voted on Monday to postpone the changeover to volume-based trash rates until Sept. 1, according to Town Manager Tom Yennerell.
Pushing back the date will allow the board to review plan details for potential improvements or revisions. Resident suggestions included keeping the current by-weight charge for disposed trash but increasing the price per ticket, and adjusting punch cards to allow residents to pay less for smaller volumes of trash.
Residents will still need a $25 vehicle sticker starting July 1 in order to use the transfer station, Yennerell said.
Springfield and Chester residents may currently purchase a vehicle sticker at their respective town hall during normal business hours. The selectboard decided to also make those stickers available for purchase directly at the station on the following dates: July 1, 3 and 6. With the exception of the three aforementioned dates, vehicle stickers will only be sold at the resident’s town hall.
Residents criticize punch card system
In May the selectboard voted, 4-1, to replace the station’s current ticket system, where each 54 cent ticket covers up to four pounds of trash, with a punch card, where each punch costs an equivalent of $3.75 and covers up a 30-gallon bag of trash or equivalent amount.
The town projects a cost increase of 37 cents per 25 pounds of trash, stating that a 30-gallon bag of garbage has an average weight of 25 pounds.
Though voting for the plan in May, Michael Martin found fault with new system should residents bring less than 30 gallons of trash. Though the new plan allows residents to dispose of lesser amounts of trash — such as a half-filled 30-gallon bag or a filled small kitchen bag — but the resident must still use one punch.
“I think we should make some accommodation for customers who bring in [small volumes],” Martin said. “I don’t think it’s fair to charge them $3.75 for four pounds of trash.”
Resident Hallie Whitcomb told the board that because she recycles everything she can and composts her food leftovers, her disposed trash is very light, containing mostly unrecyclable plastic materials. Under the new policy she might pay the same to dispose 10 pounds of trash as some disposing 25 pounds if their amounts appear similar in volume.
“The people who are doing it right are going to be punished,” Whitcomb said.
Town explains reason for change
In addition to increasing revenues by $7,500 the switch to volume-based fees expects to be more efficient, freeing staff from having to weigh bags and thereby speeding up traffic flow, Yennerell said on Monday.
While station attendants will still need to help throw bags into the current hopper, the town plans to eventually equip a unit where residents can deposit their bags themselves, according to Yennerell. An attendant would still check entering vehicle for sticker and bag number, but the station could potentially improve cost-efficiency during open hours.
Overall the new changes project to increase station customer revenues by $67,000 in fiscal year 2020, with the switch to volume-pricing raising around $7,5000 and vehicle sticker fees raising about $60,000.
According to Yennerell, the town estimated its revenues based on a projected 2,400 households or residents, which constitutes “way less than half” of total dwelling units in Springfield and Chester.
“We may have more than that, but it’s a very conservative estimate,” Yennerell said.
The new revenues are expected to offset revenue losses from increasing costs to recycle plastic waste and shrinking revenues from other recyclable materials. While the taxbase still funds most of the station’s operating cost, including staff, the town and selectboard want to shift to shortfall cost onto the station users instead of the total taxbase. The new plan projects to reduce the tax rate by two cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
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