SWC MEETING MINUTES
SWC MEETING MINUTES - 10/21/19
1)Meeting called to order at 5:40 pm.
2)Attendance- Present- Tara Albert, Jen Holt, Andy Sanborn, Jeff Burns, Dave Swanay. Absent- Bob White.
3)Motion was made by Jen to allow Andy Sanborn to Vote during this meeting. Second by Tara. Discussion-none. Vote- Yes- 4, No-0 , Abstain-1 Motion carries, Andy Sanborn to Vote this Meeting.
4)SWC/BOS updates- Jen advised the committee ;
a)Nate and Shana from the T.S. are present at this meeting and will be joining the discussion this evening once SWC housekeeping matters are completed.
b) Jen informed the committee that she has been placed on activity restrictions and is scheduled to have major surgery soon. This will likely be her last meeting until she fully recuperates which she is determined will be for their January 20,2020 meeting. Historically,SWC doesn't hold a December Meeting. If the committee decides to continue that, Jen’s surgery should hopefully only impact our November meeting.
Discussion; Jen apologized for the inconvenience and that she was determined to continue serving with the committee as they see fit. Jen asked the committee if this raised any concerns. The SWC was supportive of Jen and stated she should focus on resting and healing. And not push herself to attend meetings. SWC wished Jen a speedy recovery which Jen was very grateful for.
c)Jeff Burns made a motion to appoint a Vice-Chair for SWC . The motion was Seconded by -Andy Sanborn.
Discussion- Tara Albert volunteered to serve as the Vice- Chair for the remainder of 2019 only. Tara stated she would cover the November 18,2019 meeting. Jen thanked Tara for volunteering and reminded the committee that she also serves as the SWC meeting recorder and will need a volunteer to fill that role in her absence. Tara volunteered to fill that role as well for the November 18th meeting. Jen will coordinate with Tara to give her the Town office key for the NOVEMBER meeting. As far as posting the SWC Meeting Minutes, Tara can email the November 18th draft SWC meeting minutes to Trish Stafford. And request that Trish post the SWC Minutes onto the Town Website. Jen has already started the November agenda and will share & post the agenda by November 15th. Jen asked the SWC members to please get additions to the November agenda to Jen prior to November 15th.
Vote- Yes- 5, No-0, Abstain-0
Results- motion for Tara Albert to serve as Vice-Chair and recorder for remainder of 2019 carries unanimously.
d)The BOS has hired Nate Douglass as the new T.S. Department head. Jen and Dave attended the “ meet and greet” at the library and spoke with Nate and the town's newest Selectman Jim Dick. At that event Selectman Olmstead stated to Jen and Dave “you will find that this new board will work with you.And be more cooperative than the previous board. We will take your recommendations seriously and not be using “middle men” anymore so hopefully things work smoothly and we get things done.” Jen said she “had spoken with Nate and he would appreciate SWC assistance. SWC will follow the BOS guidelines however the goal is for SWC to work directly with the T.S. Nate has accepted support from SWC on the T.S. Budget and Dave Swanay will be contacting Nate directly to begin that process. Jen . voiced her appreciation for the cooperative,transparent spirit and believes by eliminating “the middle men” SWC will be able to serve the Town more completely.”
e)SWC has received the financial data we have asked for from Trish and Peggy. Moving forward Peggy will include the SWC Chair to receive the Transfer Station’s monthly town financial reports when they are sent out to the Department heads. Trish will be forwarding NRRA reports to Jen.
f.)Jen informed and shared with the committee the forwarded document sent by Selectman Jim Dick on 10/21/19, and informed the committee that BOS wanted to speak with them regarding it. BOS received this document from Casella dated “October 2019”. The document states the “ACR fee for processing and transporting Single Stream is increasing to $58/ton effective 11/15/19.”
Jim asked if SWC had received this document and had been made aware that BOS would like them to attend this weeks BOS Meeting? Jen advised Selectman Jim that she had not received the document or request mentioned . Jen thanked Jim for the information and stated that she would bring it to the committee during this evening’s meeting.
SWC discussion- Unfortunately the way the contract is written, Casella is within their rights to increase the fee. The only preventative recourse the Town has is to discontinue S.S. Recycling and resume baling. Interestingly,the only area in which their is an “ACR fee” is Single Stream recycling. All other Casella fees/charges are concrete and not set on an ambiguous sliding scale.
5)T.S. Fiscal Updates- Dave reported that by his calculations and interpretation of the NRRA reports. The Town has been overcharged approximately $10,000.00 by NRRA. It appears that NRRA charges the Town based on net tons instead of gross tons.
Single Stream recycling remains over budget. Some of the contributing factors are the solid waste market,glass being disposed of in S.S.(instead of glass recycling) and the high hauling fees. Casella appears to also be overcharging for containers.
Post meeting follow up Addendum- Upon further investigation into the net-vs- gross charges found on the above mentioned statements. It has been found that the "net" ton figure is correct and the "gross" ton figure is a correction factor for metal only. Therefore it has been concluded that Casella has not been overcharging the Town as previously perceived.
6) Solid Waste Market updates- Tara informed the SWC that landfill capacity and availability is an issue. Prima America( located up North ) are taking plastics for recycling. prepare for the towns expiring contract with Casella in 10/2020. MSW largest contributor continues to be food waste. Reduction is a point of focus with the Seacoast and Keene encouraging composting. Keene is offering their residents subsidiaries for backyard composting.
7)The SWC discussed their concerns over NRRA/Casella fee discrepancy. Along with their option to try to present recommendations to decrease the cost burden of the unstable solid waste market on residents to the BOS again.
8)A motion was made by Tara Albert to present SWC concerns regarding NRRA Discrepancies to the BOS.
Second by -Jeff Burns
Discussion-Jen regretfully will be unable to attend this meeting. She encouraged the committee to also offer the board remedy recommendations that have been presented in the past. For example the new C&D fee scale created by Jeff, resume baling.
Jen reminded the committee that if 3 or more SWC members attend the BOS meeting,minutes will need to be submitted.
Vote- Yes -5, No-0, Abstain-0.
Motion carries, SWC to address BOS regarding concerns and previous recommendations.
Jen will contact Trish and request for SWC to be put on the BOS agenda next week 10/30/19 @approximately 5:30 pm.
9)SWC discussion with Nate and Shana- Jen welcomed them to the meeting and thanked them for their involvement. Jen stated that SWC desire is to work cooperatively and be a source of support. The committee is aware that this is a difficult time to be taking on the role of the new T.S.D.H. ,especially with it being budget season and we are here to help. Nate addressed his list of items to the committee and a discussion ensued.
Outcome of discussion; Nate shared and reviewed the T.S. FY 2021 budget with SWC.
The T.S. budget of $207,374.48 is in line with SWC recommended T.S. budget,developed by Dave Swanay.
-Nate inquired about a scale, Andy has an affordable prototype concept ready to go.
-Jeff explained the new C&D fee scale that was approved and then rescinded by BOS. Nate will f/u with Jeff .
-Jen shared with Nate and Shana pertinent historic information and reports regarding the T.S. Physical photocopies were made and provided to Nate as requested.
SWC Members and current tasks are as follows;
-Dave will assist Nate with the financial aspects of the T.S. as needed.
-Tara will serve as Nates solid waste resource.
-Jen is Nate's SWC person to contact with questions or items that SWC can assist him with.
-Andy is Nate's resource for the scale.
-Jeff is Nate's resource for the C&D fee revisions.
-Bob works with Dave to develop a preliminary T.S. Budget.
10) A Motion was made by Tara Albert to not hold a December SWC meeting.
Second by - Jen Holt . Discussion- none. Vote- Yes-5, No-0, Abstain-0.
Motion to not have a meeting in December 2019 carried unanimously as written.
11)Vote to accept 9/16/19 SWC Draft Meeting Minutes as written . Motion made by Dave Seanay , Second by Andy Sanborn. Discussion- none. Amendments-none required
Vote: Yes-5, No-0 , Abstain-0.
Motion to accept Draft SWC 9/16/19 meeting minutes as final minutes as written passes unanimously.
12)Public comment- None.
13)Next regular meeting-11/18/19 @5:30 pm
* No December Meeting *
14)Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jen Holt- SWC Chair/Recorder
10/29/19