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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-04-18-BOS-min Sod SELECTMEN'S MEETING APRIL 18, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's meeting room on Wednesday, April 18, 1979, at 7 30 p m Chairman Battin, Mr Buse, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mrs. Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present The Solid Waste Advisory Committee, the Appropriation Committee, Solid the Capital Expenditures Committee, and Mr Bruce Pollock, Manager's Waste staff, met with the Board Report Mr Hutchinson said that the report on solid waste has been filed and constructive questions have been raised by various interest groups who are conducting independent studies by running their own figures about budget costs vs economic costs, and recycling vs non-recycling Looking at the costs we have received regarding a "mandatory recycling program," which he envisioned as viable only through trash collection, he recommended the Board's consideration of including $244,000 in the budget, based on the bids received In this report, we have the over- riding issue of giving the Board of Selectmen the right to make a com- mitment of its tonnage to a resource recovery facility, and the only immediate economic alternative is going to be the Northeast facility proposed for construction by UOP, Inc in North Andover At this time, there is only one existing resource recovery facility in the State and that is in Saugus; UOP is the next proposal, which is based on a com- mitment of tonnage; 128 West has just received proposals and as the information comes in, we can make that available to the Selectmen The long-range solution would give the Selectmen the right to commit the town's tonnage to whatever facility is in the best interests of the town in the near future, based on the deadlines placed upon us by the State, and in our opinion that decision would be for UOP and the Northeast facility Certain decisions have to be made about mandatory recycling because the Town Meeting requested that a mandatory recycling proposal be brought forward Mr Hutchinson recommended not having mandatory recycling as he felt that people are not ready to participate in it, but to continue with a recycling program under the trash collection system There are economic and budget costs addressed in the report re- lating to that He would strongly counsel against a recycling program as recommended by people at the last Town Meeting, which calls for the administration literally stopping people at the landfill and having them open their trash; this is not enforceable and almost impossible to admin- istrate I scdi Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - April 18, 1979 Mr Hutchinson said that the recommendation is predicated on the continued operation of the landfill and we are working on an operating closure plan with Whitman & Howard to look at how much time we have left at the landfill From where we are now and working out to the shed, we have 1+ year left; going out to Hartwell Avenue, consistent with state guidelines, we would hopefully have two to three years and tie in with any long range solution the town embarks upon Tomorrow evening, we are going to a meeting in North Andover on costs and al+.neview of progress with other communities Mr Buse said he realized we would have to go to trash pickup and at some point in time the dump would be closed, but we should not do it until we have a time certain to go to North Andover and close the dump If we have three years, we -ehouldk_have €hxge years of the same participation as it would cost the town money It would not be cost effective. A figure not in the report was the "buy back" of the garbage contratract, which is 15 percent of the contract for the first year and 10 percent for the following year Also, there is no provision for businessmen's trash; they are a large part of the tax- payers ax- a ers and some cansidezation should be P Y given to them. He would not c support it this year, and next year he would look at it again cti Mr Hutchinson's answers to Mr Kent's questions were ✓ Ji °` 1 The low bidder proposed pickup on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday If people miss the pickup, they may go to the landfill 2 Solid waste in one bag or in three separate compart- ments; it is assumed garbage would be wrapped; up to six bags curbside 3 Garbage containers are not to be serviced 4 The program is designed to keep the landfill open five days a week Mr Hutchinson gave information on UOP The main plant is in Chicago, with other plants in Harrisburg, Europe and Japan Itnis a German system called the Martin System, which is a conversion of steam to electricity Mr Bailey, Solid Waste Committee, said that the one thing that convinced him was that the UOP process has no intermediate stage; it goes from trash to electricity out UOP has demonstrated in the European plants that they can do it and can do it here by transferring the technology and causing it to come off successfully by making allowances for the quite different heat values in the trash we generate here Resco was not recommended by the Manager and the Solid Waste Committee, (a) the plant is not prepared to handle American waste or the high intensity of the heat which is generated; (b) It is too expensive-$15/ton just to take the rubbish; Lexington would have transportation costs; non-controllable escalation factor; Mr Reilly, Chairman of Solid Waste Committee, said that the basic point of discussion is the commitment to the resource recov- ery facility r 597 Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - April 18, 1979 I Mr Hutchinson said that UOP would build a plant for 1800-3000 tans a day and they are talking about dealing with towns in New Hampshire, this region, and others Mr White, Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, said that it would take about 32 towns besides Lexington to support it if you fig- ure 56 tons a day from Lexington. If 6 towns were reasonably, close and others were considering the proposal, how realistic is the June 30 deadline? Mr Hutchinson replied that it isn't that realistic and he could not tell him they are going to have 32 towns by July 1 We are recom- mending that we be one of the first and the Selectmen be given the capacity to make that decision It is a very complex issue and we are going to give Town Meeting eerything that we can before you give that decision Titiaths-that are ready to sign would have 350-400 tons; towns with warrant articles for commitment would add another 950 tons, and the hard cell towns would bring it over the top The agreement would be for a 20-year commitment with a guarantee of a certain tonnage, with a fixed cost tied to the consumer price index Mr Busa said that the consumer price index would be over 8 percent this year and can escalate as much as 15 percent We should come up with a 1-year contract with some means of escalation other than the 111 consumer price index Mr Crain said that the consumer price index is broken into com- ponents and, in negotiations, he hoped we could agree on the relation- ship of a reasonable lead time to components related to the facility, not the total index Mr Hutchinson said this is one of the issues that is being ad- dressed right now and could be pursued further with UOP at Town Meeting Mr White said that the major concern is net costs and we don't have a handle on net costs for FY 80 We are trying to see what the realistic impact on the tax rate will be, and it looks like $159,000 Mr Hutchinson said this is the only proven technology at this time and nobody has come up with anything In the interim, you have a problem that has to be resolved Mr. Bailey added that they don't see anything happening for the next 10-15 years Ta_answer Mr White's question if an escape clause could be built in, the key thing is in order for financing to be re- ceived, UOP has to have some long term commitments; if you have leaky agreements, they are going to have trouble getting financing Discussion was held on the $80,000 piece of DPW equipment in- cluded in the budget figures and the garbage collection figure of $72,000 Mr Hutchinson said that the proposal is to pick up garbage as part of curbside collection His recommendation to the Board is to put in $244,000 (new money) and he did not touch the $72,000 because of the variable of whether this would even be approved by the Town Meeting ‘d8 Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - April 18, 1979 Mr Cataldo, Appropriation Committee, asked questions about the difference in the present operation and the proposal, and Mr Pollock answered his questions by a breakdown of FY 79 costs for the solid waste disposal program-$325,170, and future disposal system options and cost estimates-$258,000 ($244,000 plus $14,000 penalty), which did not include $72,000 for garbage collection. The proposal in- cludes all residential dwellings of 4 units or below; does not in- clude apartments or condominiums; once a week mixed garbage pickup. Housing for the elderly/public facilities are referenced for pickup and the Manager has the right under the contract to expand services to certain areas,with the approval of the Board of Selectmen In response to Mr Cataldo's question if any bids were taken including commercial pickup, Mr Hutchinson said there were none; we designed the specifications based on practice in most communities Mr Cataldo said that businesses would pay 24 percent and get nothing They would be willing to pay their share to have it picked up like everybody else; commercial people should not be excluded The Manager is to get a figure for including commercials and information on what other communities do Mr Busa asked for figures to pick up trash in Lexington as long as the landfill is open Mr Karsten Sorenson, Vinebrook Road, presented alternate pro- posals and requested that the Board seriously consider a program of dropping the curbside pickup of recyclables and go into a mandatory separation system at the sanitary landfill If the article is voted, 111 you are locked in for 20 years He did not agree with the Town Manager and said that people realize there is a real savings of $300,000 if you get BO percent participation, as Marblehead does Mrs Miley painted out that Marblehead is saying they have 50 per- cent participation She did not agree with Mr Sorenson's recommenda- tion for individual companies that pick up around the town to be charged an extra fee if they chose not to recycle; if so, it would be expected that any citizen who did not choose to recycle would be charged Then, it would almost get out of hand The Board agreed to discuss with the Town Moderator the possibility of recessing a Town Meeting session for an informal dialogue, and then vote on solid waste at the next session The Solid Waste Committee, Appropriation Committee, Capital Expendi- tures Committee, and Mr Pollock retired from the meeting Mr Peter DiMatteo, .Btii±dingttComAdssioner, met with the Board to discuss Article 57-Drainage By-Law Mr Busa expressed his reservations about the Article, (1) the authority giving the Building Commissioner the latitude to come up with a solution for drainage for each individual, whether builder or resident of the town, is too broad and, in his opinion, would only create problems for the town and the Building Commissioner, as he is the person making the judgment of how the drainage would be solved on each individual parcel of land or subdivision in the town; (2) there is no cut specification of what the drainage program would be He knew of other towns that have a similar by-law and it becomes very sticky and 111 very argumentative, and the only solution for the homeowner dr developer is the court or the Board of Appeals In talking with Town Counsel, the possibility is to go to the Board of Appeals He had full faith in Mr DiMatteo but if he should leave we might have one who is not sensitive to the problems Once an alteration is made in a piece of property, X09 Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - April 18, 1979 a situation for to solve a drainage robkem. teat n the Building Commissioner g p In the construction of a home, you should have X number of degrees of runoff from the foundation to the property line. If you are near a catch basin, you can run off to a catch basis If a slope is greater than a certain percentage, dry wells of some size should be constructed or a swale should be constructed to run into a catch basin, to the edge of the road, to something There is nothing specific and there should be specifications for people to look at Mr DiMatteo said that the telephone calls on water problems with faulty basements, improper grading, etc are quite substantial and there is nothing I can do as it is a civil matter and the great expense to tax- payers can be a problem. The building code is limiting to me in the jurisdiction of what I can do During the construction procedures, I can regulate how water is affecting the abutters but as soon as that construction is finished and they put in the lawn and seed, I have no control over how they grade the property, what they do to the abutters, etc Mr Busa's concerns are well taken but I keep getting calls to protect the homeowners I think the by-law could be workable, and if my.'successor is not reasonable, then the by-law could always be revoked Mr Crain asked for information on other communities; whether there was such an article and whether it had been withdrawn Mr DiMatteo said that he couldn't find communities that did have it but he would work on it and get the information to the Board Mr Busa felt that something could be worked into an article to give the guidelines Mr Hutchinson agreed that todhave the information for the Board Mr DiMatteo retired from the meeting The Board approved Mr Hutchinson's recommendations, as follows Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted4to award Contract Contract 478-5-E to the lowest bidder, Crowlet Associates, Inc of Leominster #78-5-E for sanitary sewer construction in the amount of $346,910 00, subject Sewer to the approval of Town Counsel as to bid form Mr Crain abstained because of a personal relationship Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve an Contract increase from $409,750 00 to $455,000 00 for Contract #77-5-E, awarded #77-5-E to JFP Construction, Inc , Littleton, for sanitary sewer construction in various locations, as authorized under Article 19 of 1978-sewer bonding Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Symmes request of the Symmes Hospital Community Relations Department to con- Road Race duct "Run for Symmes" races on Saturday, May 12, 1979, with a rain date of May 13, from the Arlington Heights line to Tower Park from 9 00 a.m to 3 00 p.m , as outlined in a letter of April 12, subject to the regulations of the Police, Public Works Department, and the Fire Department Sf4 Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - April 18, 1979 motion duly y made and seconded, it was voted 5e0 by roll call vote eMrs Bastin, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, Mr Kent and Mr Crain - to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing real estate negotiations and litigation. After discussion, it was voted to go out of Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 11 26 pm A true record, Attest E ecutive Clerk, Selectmen I