Select Board approves three-year Waste Management contract; staff outlines recycling, compost and scale plans

The West Swanzey Select Board approved a three-year contract with Waste Management and spent the bulk of its meeting discussing transfer-station operations, recycling markets, and plans for a food-waste and plastics pilot.

A Solid waste staff member told the board the agreement is the town’s preferred revised offer and recommended moving forward. “I think we did a pretty good deal on that,” the staff member said while reviewing pricing scenarios and multi-year inflation adjustments. Board members then moved to authorize the contract; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote with all members saying “Aye.”

Staff presented a multi-page summary of the town’s historic hauling contracts and annual tonnage trends, noting wide year-to-year variation. The presentation included a 10-year overview and comparisons showing material flows for municipal solid waste (MSW), construction-and-demolition (C&D), cardboard and plastics. Staff said 2014 showed 320 tons in a cited example and described recent years as “ups and downs” driven by clean-outs and construction projects.

During the briefing staff outlined several operational changes intended to reduce costs and raise diversion: staggering container shipments to avoid partially filled hauls; routing mattresses and bulky items differently; a pilot to capture food waste and more aggressive separation of plastics by resin code; and creating a covered pad to reduce water weight in wood/organics containers. On plastics, staff described a phased approach: initially expanding beyond No. 1 and No. 2 plastics to capture additional resin types and later assessing baling or higher-level sorting if markets support it.

Staff also described plans for a small capital program at the transfer station: reorganizing container pads, adding a potential second compactor container, and a longer-term plan that would include a horizontal baler and an interior conveyor/bailer system to create denser, higher-value shipments. That project, staff said, could take two to three years to implement depending on funding and space.

On pricing details, staff reviewed vendor proposals and said the board’s counteroffer reduced the initial increases from the first proposal. Examples given in the presentation: C&D-related charges moved from an initial 17.8% increase down to an 8.9% increase with a proposed 4% annual escalation thereafter; other fees were described as moving toward a 7% first-year increase with a 4% escalation in subsequent years. Staff said the contract would begin August 1.

Staff said the town’s diversion rate last year was about 34 percent and set a goal to raise diversion to roughly 37–40 percent in the coming year. They also noted some line items in the budget: mattresses moved from $10 to $20 in fees and electronics were tracking roughly $15.20 over budget at the time of the report; staff said those figures were in line with expectations and market fluctuations.

Board members asked about on-site composting versus vendor shipping, container covers and drainage, costs of a scale and scale-house operations, certification for weights-and-measures, and how to avoid shipping partially empty containers. Staff said they would continue vendor research and pilot projects and would report back with more precise financial estimates.

The contract authorization was moved and seconded at the meeting; after no further discussion the board approved the three-year Waste Management contract by voice vote.

Board members also asked staff to continue pursuing recycling-market improvements and to return with a clearer implementation timeline and itemized cost estimates if capital equipment (a horizontal baler, enclosed building, or scales) is proposed.

The vote ends the immediate procurement decision; staff will carry follow-up work on pilots, site reconfiguration and the potential capital projects recommended in the briefing.