A standing-room-only crowd filled the auditorium of the Richard H. Smith Town Hall on Dec. 11 as voters turned out to reject a proposed Unit Based Pricing (UBP) program for the town's transfer station. Nearly 400 residents turned out, voting 280-94 to reject the proposed ordinance.

The program, brought forth by the town’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Waste Reduction, would have required that “all residential households ('residential generators') who deliver otherwise acceptable household waste to the transfer station directly, rather than through the use of a commercial hauler, shall use specially designed and labeled plastic garbage bags.” The specially designed and labeled bags, however, would have come with a price tag for residents, ranging from $0.95 per bag to $2 per bag.

According to Jenn Weymouth of the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the ordinance comes at a time when landfills throughout the state have been steadily closing and “is leading to increased disposal costs for municipalities, which gets passed on to residents.”

At the Dec. 11 town meeting, WasteZero Vice President Kristen Brown explained how prices related to trash disposal have increased and the cost-effectiveness of the proposed ordinance. According to Brown, if voters approved the UBP program and continued its current food scraps program, the Town could reduce tipping fees by 55%, from $116,850 to $52,538. Combined with a projected $89,398 in revenue generated from the required trash bag sales, the transfer station budget could fall to $290,447.

A slideshow presentation prepared by WasteZero and shown to voters at the Dec. 11 meeting indicated that the 2022-'23 fiscal year budget for the transfer station totaled $409,307, and if voters opted to "do nothing" by rejecting the ordinance, that number would increase to $426,157 for fiscal year 2023-'24. The presentation further showed that if residents opted to stay the course with its current food scraps program but not adopt the UBP ordinance, the transfer station budget would increase further to $435,702. Maintaining the current food scraps program while adopting the ordinance, however, would decrease the 2023-'24 fiscal year budget for the transfer station to $290,447.

The 2023-'23 budget, approved by voters on May 16, 2022, lists the waste/recycle budget as $392,462, $16,845 lower than the figure in WasteZero's presentation. The 2023-'24 budget, approved by voters on May 15, 2023, lists the total waste/recycle budget at $410,335, $15,822 lower than the figure presented in the PowerPoint. The 2022-'23 and 2023-'24 fiscal year budgets are available at www.deepriverct.us.

Tory McBrien, program coordinator at WasteZero, explained that the numbers presented on Dec. 11 were "hypothetical numbers" based on the 2022-'23 budget.

Despite the budgetary discrepancies, Brown explained that the total transfer station budget would fall if voters adopted the UBP ordinance and maintained its current food scraps program under the expectation that residents would dispose of less waste per the program's requirements while revenue would be generated by residents' purchase of program-required trash bags. The combined revenue and cost savings would, according to Brown, cover rising tipping fees.

“It is collectively costing less money for you as a group to use this system than the current system,” said Brown.

While committee members and WasteZero representatives touted cost savings and decreased waste, residents voiced sharp criticism of the program, calling it unaffordable and poorly conceived. A heated debate on Chester, Deep River, and Essex Connection Facebook group page before the meeting carried over into public testimonies by genuinely concerned residents.

John Kennedy believed that the program, as a whole, was patronizing to residents.

“We aren’t children and don't need a slap on our hand to take our generated waste seriously. Most of us take recycling and minimizing our waste very seriously. Many of us compost as well. Teaching and encouraging this practice alone would have more effect than a slap on our hand with extra fees,” said Kennedy.

Despite having an attached subsidy program to assist low-income residents, including senior citizens, Sarah Walker saw that the program's costs were too burdensome on the demographic.

“This plan needs to be rethought and reworked to serve all of Deep River, not just the environmental activists,” said Walker.

Other residents voiced concerns that because of the cost, some may find alternate ways to dispose of trash, including illegal dumps, throwing garbage alongside the road, and burning it. Some residents suggested enforcement of the current rules at the transfer station, prohibiting use by non-residents and contractors.

While opponents to the proposal outnumbered supporters, some residents, like Gary Elliot, did voice support for it. Initially against the program, before he “got serious” about reducing his waste reduction, Elliot expressed concern that an overabundance of dumping at the transfer station could soon lead to its closure, falling into the statewide trend.

“That transfer station can go away just like Chester's did 20 years ago,” said Elliot. “That can happen here in Deep River, too, and it’s only a matter of time before it does if we don't get serious about what we're throwing away.”

According to the PowerPoint from WasteZero, however, most of what is thrown away is recyclable, and only 10 to 12 pounds of the average 33 pounds of garbage generated each week by the average home is considered true trash.

While residents rejected the ordinance by nearly a 3 to 1 margin, members of the ad-hoc committee warned that higher taxes could result in order to cover growing tipping fees. Those taxes would impact all residents, including those who use a private hauler instead of the transfer station.

Despite the defeat, committee head Lenore Grunko said residents who want to see improvements at the transfer station or are interested in curbing the growing trash problem can help be part of the solution.

“If you are interested in being part of the future of the Deep River transfer station and want to be on a committee to be part of the solution and not part of the problem, call the first selectman’s office and leave your name and email.”

The first selectman’s office number is 860-526-6020.

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