11/7/2007 BOARD OF HEALTH Minutes

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at the UC TS, and to be issued a permit for 2008. Glenn Santos seconded the motion. All approved. 7:30 PIVI —Catherine Laurent -solid Waste &Use of UC TS Catherine Laurent, Assistant Director of DPW, introduced herself to the Board. Catherine Laurent stated that she was here tonight to follow up on a BOH meeting held in January 2007, to talk with haulers with.I lashpee permits about offering recycling to their customers, as is required by the IDPH regulation. Catherine stated that several haulers are offering the service, and more have approached her about offering the service. In addition,, a number of Homeowners Associations have contacted her about their interest in receiving the service. The question posed by Catherine Laurent was, "What can we do to ,Hake this happen?" Glen Harrington asked about the possibility of the Torn offering curbside recycling service. Catherine Laurent said that previous discussions about offering this service have stalled because of the cost involved. Catherine Laurent stated that she will be discussing with the Board of Selectmen this month the possibility of the Town switching to a "pay as you throw" system, in which residents that use the Ilashpee Transfer Station would pay per bag of trash instead of a flat annual fee. The Pay as you Throw,system creates a financial incentive to recycle, r i.e., deep the recyclable items separate from the trash, thereby decreasing the number of bags of trash. Edward Baker, president of the Environmental Coalition, Bradford Sweet, a representative of the New Seabury Homeowners Association, and Nikki Descoteau , a member of the recycling committee, were all present at the ,meeting and introduced themselves to the Board as avid supporters of the recycling efforts of the Town. Ms. Laurent made the point that because the haulers have not been offering/reporting recycling amounts, the Town"s recycling rate is reduced. If the rate falls below the 26% rate achieved in 2005, the Town stares to be excluded from applying for certain state grants. The state has set a % recycling rate goal for towns to reach by 2010. Ms. Laurent stated further that recycling pays; the Town sages an average of$30 to $40 per ton of waste that is recycled instead of thrown away— it costs $80 to $90 per ton to get rid of regular trash. Glenn Santos suggested that in order to obtain a permit for 2008, the BOH require all private trash companies in town to provide proof of how many tons they recycled in 2007. Even if the companies report zero tons recycled, it will give the BOH a baseline to start from, and it ill communicate to the haulers that they have to begin offering and tracking recycling in 2008. Glen Harrington stated that he will meet with Catherine Laurent to come up with a plan for haulers' permit requirements for 2008.