Selectmen Approve New Transfer Station Rates, Polices

By John Voket

The Board of Selectman heard about and approved sweeping rate and policy changes for the transfer station during a brief meeting May 7. Public Works Director Fred Hurley was on hand to present his report, which included information on how he wants to see the operation go paperless, plans to eliminate cash transactions, and the first increases in fees in more than eight years.

“There are three or four things going on simultaneously and we’re trying to work them all out at the same time,” Mr Hurley told First Selectman Pat Llodra and Selectman Will Rodgers; Selectman James Gaston was absent.

Historically, Mr Hurley said, the town has used annual color-coded permits, but a new electronic system tied to the town’s database will make those annual stickers a thing of the past. He said the new system will involve a permanent bar code sticker that will be read by handheld devices by transfer station staffers, to permit entry.

The information that will allow the transfer station to link and read updated information in real time is ready to be installed. The new system will also promote online administrative practices, including a discounted permit for those who purchase their permit on line.

“In the end, this will provide better control and service — fewer people will have to stop and buy a permit, or go into the office,” Mr Hurley said.

The most significant change will come to individuals who either have been buying day passes, a system Mr Hurley described as promoting “nothing less than massive abuse, where annual permits are foregone and enormous quantities of household waste are delivered for a smaller fee.”

To help shift the household waste dumping back to a more regular process, he requested and received authorization to increase the day permits from $6 and $10, to $10 and $20 respectively.

There will also be a substantial increase for dumping construction and demolition (C&D) materials, a practice that has consistently pushed that area of operations into the red.

“Last year we took in revenue of $44,000 for C&D and paid out $92,000 for disposal,” Mr Hurley reported. He said the transfer station gladly accepts construction debris from homeowners, but commercial contractors should not be using the local landfill instead of making the trip to Danbury where such commercial waste is designated to be dumped.

He said advanced security monitoring cameras will deter this practice even further, along with an increase in fees from $39 per cubic yard to $75 per cubic yard.

For local household waste, Mr Hurley said the town has held the line for years at an $80 annual rate, but the time has come to up that fee to $85 for anyone who buys their 2012 permit online. That new bar-coded permit is effective July 1.

Anyone purchasing a new 2012 permit at the transfer station will pay $90.

“It is hoped that the $5 discount would bring more people on line, and keep them out of the transfer station office,” he stated.

Eventually, Mr Hurley hopes to see the potential for accounting issues and theft eliminated completely by curtailing any cash transactions the transfer station completely.

“Both the historical theft incidents at the transfer station involved cash,” he said. “Neither would have been possible without the presence of cash.”

In 2004, former staffer Trish Johnson absconded with and pleaded guilty to taking $88,832 over an extended period of employment at the transfer station. Another more recent incident involving significantly less missing money was investigated with discipline handled internally.

Other services will continue including taking household construction debris, or tree limbs over three inches thick on a fee-based schedule. All other deposits of recyclables, waste oil, and metals are free to any resident.