|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SPENCER – The Board of Selectmen on February 24 voted to raise transfer station sticker fees from $65 to $75 and second sticker fees from $25 to $30.
The decision followed word that budget would fall short by $16,605 and that gap must be filled, according to Town Administrator Jeff Bridges.
Superintendent of Utilities and Facilities Peter Boria initially suggested two options—either raising sticker fees or the cost of bags.
However, Boria said there is a concern residents would not purchase the bags, they would be more difficult to monitor and would not bring in the revenue needed.
Instead, Boria noted, a $10 increase would bring in $15,720 and the $5 hike for secondary stickers would mean an additional $890, filling in the budget shortfall.
Driving the shortfall, Boria said, is the increased cost of disposing waste. The amount to haul waste rose from $600 per load to $800 twice per week.
Additionally, while salaries are consistent, other operating costs are increasing, Boria said.
He added that a recent retirement in the department would result in $10,000 savings because the individual would not be replaced.
He said over the past three or four years, sales remained consistent at about 1,700 to 1,800 stickers.
Boria noted also that Charlton pays the town between $4,500 to $5,000 per year and will continue to do so.
Selectman Tony Pepe suggested Spencer consider regionalizing services, selling stickers to neighboring towns. “We need to find a way to expand revenue without hitting our own people with higher fees year after year.”
Selectman Gary Woodbury noted that residents in Brookfield pay $95 per sticker while Chairperson John Howard said the cost in East Brookfield is $85 and residents there get trash pickup at curbside.
Boria said approximately 175 or 180 Spencer residents buy second stickers, in answer to a question from Selectman Ralph Hicks.
“My concern is people may be hesitant to buy a second (sticker) if the first one goes higher,” Hicks said. “We’ve got to do something so it is not a burden on the tax rate.”
Pepe said previous boards had an “aversion,” to curbside pickup operations.
Boria called that service, “a completely different animal.” He said it would involve having a single hauler come and pick up from everybody.
“Most people don’t want to be told who to use,” Boria said.
Hicks noted the town administrator should “put an olive branch out to neighbors—the towns that touch Spencer – to see if there is an interest in regionalization.”
He added he would like the matter to be put on the next meeting’s agenda.
Boria said last year they had talked about having certain licenses for local contractors to dump waste. “Commercial haulers would come with a dump truck filled with trash to dump in a waste bin and we charge them, say, $200 per load…average out a fair price,” Boria said.
He continued, “That would be a good source of revenue so long as they aren’t bringing in 10 loads and we have to haul that trailer twice in one day.”
Boria said the option would be a way to grow and something to try to see how it goes.
Pepe spoke about the possibility of having the third-party commercial haulers provide curbside service, noting it is a way to get the service without having to hire anybody.
“With everything ahead of us budget-wise, we have to look at every option to bring costs down instead of jacking things up,” Woodbury said.
