Kingston board asks staff for data on recycling collection center as participation remains uncertain

Select Board members on the Kingston Select Board pressed town staff for detailed 2024 expense and participation data for the town's recycling collection center and discussed contingency plans if participation remains low.

At the meeting a member of the Select Board said, "I kinda wanna monitor some of the costs that we've expended there," listing payroll and dumpster rental fees as specific items to account for. The board asked staff to provide a concise handout showing last year's spending, revenue from special events, and estimates for this year's operations.

The request followed multiple reports that participation varies widely. A town staff member said, "we're averaging the most we did was a 20 in a day," and described collection patterns that make exact household participation rates hard to calculate because some visitors bring material for multiple households and intervals between visits vary.

Board members discussed alternatives if the collection center proves unsustainable, including a pay-as-you-go model at a regional transfer station and more frequent special events. One member noted Kingston residents currently may pay to use neighboring transfer stations and that transfer-station models are not directly comparable to Kingston's collection-center operation.

Staff said Waste Management tracks tonnage and that recycling tonnage produced about $10,000 less revenue for the town from 2023 to 2024. The board also discussed operational constraints: volunteers must be supplemented by highway or trained solid-waste operators for tasks like using front loader equipment, and overtime for highway workers currently covers those costs when volunteers are unavailable.

The Select Board asked that the solid-waste committee supply the following for the next meeting: a 2024 expense breakdown (payroll, dumpster rentals and other recurring costs), revenue from any fee-based special events, monthly participation counts, and a schedule of planned events for the coming season (staff agreed to prepare a short handout). The board discussed using weather and event calendars to explain participation fluctuations.

Public comment reiterated the role of weather and special events in participation. A resident suggested tracking weather for each collection day as part of the participation dataset.

The discussion was held during liaison reports and produced no formal policy change; staff were directed to produce the requested information for the board's next meeting so the town can evaluate whether to continue the collection-center model or pursue alternatives.