SWDC MEETING MINUTES
SWDC Meeting Minutes-11/22/2021
1) Meeting called to order at 5:35pm.
2)Present- Jeff Burns, Andy Sanborn, Dave Swanay, Jen Holt, Shauna Goutier ( Transfer Station manager).
3) SWDC/BOS updates- Jen reported that Jeff has been approved by BOS to serve on SWDC.
4)Committee discussion following the final meeting with T.S. manager, Nate Douglass, on 11/3/21; Jen started the discussion voicing her concerns that SWDC had been notified in 2017-2018 that all flagged safety hazards found on the Primex Sanbornton Transfer Station Facility Risk Assessment report of 08/2015 were resolved. SWDC learned this is not true.
It was only by happenstance that the committee learned of this ongoing safety issue when Nate Douglass, turned to T.A. Stafford and asked “when do we expect the bid to go out?” T.A. Stafford replied “ January.”
Jen asked Nate what bid he was referring to? Nate responded “we need new railing and concrete at the overflow dumpster and demo dumpster to get inline with Primex.” At that time,Jen voiced her confusion given that SWDC had been told that all Primex safety issues had been resolved as of 2018. Additionally, SWDC was unaware of any pending bids for the T.S.
T.A. Stafford responded The Town has a Safety committee to review this. Jen followed up by asking Nate and T.A. Stafford if there were any other issues ongoing at the transfer station that SWDC should be made aware of. No additional information was provided.
Jen stated that “Given SWDC is operating with inaccurate data, has presented to various BOS over the past 6 years recommendations to mitigate the fiscal burden of the T.S. and the majority of SWDC recommendations have not been acted on, SWDC has not been utilized as it is meant to be during the tenure of our previous 2 T.S. managers. Both of whom signed fiscally damaging contracts without the notification or input of SWDC, and the current overall struggle for the committee to acquire pertinent information. This leaves me personally questioning the relevance of SWDC.” The other committee members voiced agreement to Jen’s statement.
Discussion continued. Dave stated it was difficult to get detailed fiscal reports. He has not received an NRRA report in quite a while despite asking for it. Dave stated we don’t know the actual cost of Single Stream. Shauna stated that she did have some NRRA reports that she would share with Dave.
Andy suggested asking BOS for a list of projects and adjourn until needed. Jen reminded the committee that the previous BOS had informed SWDC that “ our marching orders were to be taken from Article 2 of the Sanbornton Special Town Meeting of 12/18/2015. It is not the BOS role to assign jobs for the SWDC”. The committee has trialed adjourning until a task arises. which lasted from 01/18/21 - 09/20/21.
A suggestion was made for SWDC to update our previous recommendations made to other BOS. Jeff and Dave agreed that we currently have 2 new Selectmen serving who have not heard our recommendations. Only John Olmstead has been present for many of the previous SWDC recommendations. The committee agreed to revisit previous recommendations and present them to the BOS. SWDC as a whole voiced a desire to support Shauna in her new role as T.S. manager. The committee agreed that it would reassess its relevance in the near future.
5) Transfer Station manager report- Shauna reported that the eyewash station and First Aid kit at the Transfer station need to be upgraded. She will be mentioning this to the BOS.
Shauna has posted a Bagster pamphlet at the Transfer Station.
Shauna spoke with Pete Burnham at Casella. He notified Shauna that Casella will begin accepting residential C&D for a fee starting January 1, 2022.
Shauna reported that unfortunately Casella’s mattress disposal fee is $25.00 regardless of whether the mattress is a crib size or a king size.
In an effort to reign in the cost of C&D, once the container is full, C&D is closed. The overflow container is not being used due to there is not any money in the budget for it.
Single Stream is being sent to Allenstown every other week.
Shauna informed the committee that the email address for the T.S. is- transfer@sanborntonnh.org
SWDC offered Shauna the following suggestions ; discuss with the BOS the issues with C&D and consider no longer accepting Construction material as of January 1st, consider resuming pulling glass out of S.S.
Dave requested Shauna send him an analysis of S.S. costs from NRRA for this fiscal year. Andy reported that CIP is putting money away for T.S. equipment repair.
6) Vote to amend/accept draft meeting minutes of 11/3/21.
Motion made by Andy. Second by Jeff. Discussion - none.
Vote - Yes-4, No-0, Abstain-0.
Motion to accept draft minutes of 11/3/21 as written passes unanimously.
7)Vote to accept/amend draft meeting minutes of 10/18/21.
Motion made by Andy. Second by Jeff. Discussion-none.
Vote- Yes-0, No-0, Abstain-0.
Motion to accept draft minutes of 10/18/21 as written passes unanimously.
8)Discussion to skip December meeting- all members unanimously agree to not hold a December meeting.
9)Public comment- none.
10)Next regular meeting- 01/17/22
11)Meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jen Holt , SWDC Chair/ Recorder
11/30/21