Hooksett advisory committee votes to set transfer station fees to market value

The Hooksett Recycling & Transfer Advisory Committee voted Jan. 28 to recommend that the town's transfer station fees be adjusted to reflect market value and to forward that recommendation up the administrative chain for implementation.

Committee members said the recommendation follows recent market volatility for recyclables and rising disposal costs. The committee noted Town of Hooksett Recycling & Transfer Ordinance (00-31) and New Hampshire RSA 41:9, which authorize a process in which the advisory committee reviews fees and the director of public works establishes fees with the approval of the town administrator and town council.

Committee discussion traced the policy's recent administrative history: members located a Town Council staff report and public hearing for Ordinance 00-31 dated Oct. 26, 2022, which discussed removing fixed fee schedules from the ordinance and moving the fee amounts to a rate sheet so they can be updated more nimbly. Committee members said that practice, if confirmed in council action, would allow the director of public works to update fees to match market conditions without re-adopting the ordinance itself.

A motion "to have all of the fees reflect market value" was made and seconded; the chair called for a vote and members answered "Aye." The committee approved the recommendation and will transmit it to the director of public works and the town administrator for implementation and any additional approval by Town Council required under NH RSA 41:9. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote tally by name; the meeting record notes only that members voted in favor.

Committee members and staff emphasized that the committee's stated goal is to recover costs (to avoid subsidizing disposal) rather than to generate surplus revenue. Staff noted the new scale software at the transfer station will allow on-site price updates if the director authorizes changes, which would let the facility respond quickly to market swings for materials such as cardboard and metals.

What happens next: the committee will provide its recommendation to the director of public works and the town administrator; any fee changes will follow the approval path described in Ordinance 00-31 and NH RSA 41:9 and, where required, be reflected on an administratively maintained fee sheet rather than in the ordinance text itself.