Resident urges Burrillville to restrict early-morning work at Whipple Avenue compost site

At the Feb. 12 Burrillville Town Council meeting a resident said repeated early-morning activity at the Whipple Avenue compost and recycling facility is waking her and her husband and asked the town to consider a later start time when not an emergency.

"I live at 309 Whipple Avenue. I've lived there for 36 years... My husband is 82 years old," the resident said. She described equipment beeping, loader buckets slamming and trucks releasing loads as early as about 6:15 a.m. on multiple days and said the noise wakes her and forces her to take sleep medication earlier than usual. "I think there should be a compromise where it could be 08:00 unless it's an emergency," she said.

Town Manager Michael C. Wood and Public Works staff acknowledged the complaint and said typical public drop-off hours for the compost site are Wednesdays and Saturdays with a 9:00 a.m. opening for public dumping. DPW staff said some construction contractors and subcontractors had been on site early during nearby bridge work and that multiple subcontractors with keys contributed to early activity. DPW-related work such as crushing full dumpsters can occur earlier on weekdays; staff said they will retrieve remaining contractor keys and attempt to limit non-emergency activity and noisy operations to later in the morning when possible.

Council members asked staff to seek a compromise and to discuss operational practices with contractors. Wood said he would "talk to Jeff" and attempt to control contractor access and schedule spotter/loader activity later. The council did not take formal action; staff said they would follow up with the resident.