Council backs two‑year curbside compost pilot funded by Eleventh Hour Racing, administered by Eastern RI Conservation District

The Town Council backed a revised plan to launch a two‑year curbside composting pilot after staff and partners restructured funding. Eleventh Hour Racing agreed to fund the program directly; the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD) will administer the grant and select the vendor.

Town staff originally proposed an $11,000 municipal match for a USDA grant; when the USDA application failed, Eleventh Hour Racing offered full program funding and ERICD agreed to manage the project. ERICD director Sarah Turgan is preparing the grant paperwork and will select and contract with the vendor — staff named Black Earth as the likely vendor partner for metrics and service delivery.

The proposed subsidy model follows recent practice: year one provides a two‑thirds subsidy to resident subscribers, year two provides a one‑third subsidy, and year three (outside the two‑year pilot funding) would be expected to move subscribers to private pay if they wish to continue service. The grant will cover collection bins, liners, and outreach; the town will provide in‑kind match through advertising and the Conservation Commission will assist with outreach.

Councilors asked that the vendor provide measurable deliverables and that the project report back to the council at least three times during the pilot with tonnage reductions, participation rates and any impact on tipping fees. The council voted to support the revised funding/administration plan and authorized staff to proceed.