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Select Board hears contentious Solid Waste Committee meeting, schedules follow-up and appoints member
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Summary
Select Board members reported a combative Solid Waste Committee meeting and discussed requiring the committee to supply documentation of its work. The board also moved to appoint Rush Maya to the Solid Waste Committee for a three-year term.
The Canterbury Select Board on Thursday discussed recent tensions within the town’s Solid Waste Committee and agreed to seek clearer documentation of the committee’s work while keeping lines of engagement open.
Select Board members described the Solid Waste Committee meeting on May 26 as “combative,” saying some members reacted negatively to questions about whether listed projects had supporting minutes or reports. The committee’s chair and several volunteers told the board they had been investigating ideas off-line and did not always bring unsuccessful investigations back for the committee’s minutes. Board members said the lack of shared records made it difficult to confirm progress on projects and suggested asking the committee to produce evidence for the items listed on its projects page.
The board debated forum and timing for follow-up. Several members preferred attending the Solid Waste Committee’s June 23 meeting to discuss priorities and asked town staff to invite the committee and to set a clear agenda and time limits. The Select Board also agreed it would be appropriate to request public documentation or summaries of work the committee lists as active projects so other volunteers and the town office can avoid duplicate effort.
The board signed an appointment for Rush Maya to the Solid Waste Committee for a three-year term; the record shows the appointment form was on the agenda and that members discussed Mr. Maya’s earlier presentation to the town about retrofitting a diesel truck to run hydraulics on electricity. The board also discussed increasing the frequency of household hazardous-waste collection after positive feedback from a recent event and asked committee members and transfer-station staff to provide cost estimates for running more frequent events.
The Select Board directed staff to invite the Solid Waste Committee to a future Select Board meeting (or to confirm the Select Board’s attendance at the committee’s June 23 meeting), to request documentation supporting the committee’s project list, and to obtain cost estimates for expanded household hazardous-waste days.
