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Council approves overflow-bag contract and landfill monitoring; members question bag pricing and enforcement
Summary
Council approved a $73,251 contract for overflow trash bags and later a $156,000 three‑year landfill monitoring contract; councilors raised concerns the overflow-bag program may lose money per bag and asked for inventory and vendor reports.
The Methuen City Council approved two waste-management contracts but spent substantial time questioning program economics and oversight.
Council approved a $73,251 contract with Waste0 (manufacturer/distributor) to supply overflow trash bags used in the city's 'trash cart' program. Councilor Ferretra ran through cost math and argued the city may be losing money on each bag — estimating disposal costs could exceed the revenue per bag — and called the overall trash system 'broken.' Staff said the vendor tracks inventory and supplies monthly reports showing where bags are sold and how much revenue is transferred to the city. Councilors asked staff to provide sales reports and to identify top-selling retailers; staff agreed to provide the reports at the next meeting.
Council also approved a three‑year contract for landfill monitoring with Bulbrecht Engineering and Construction for $156,000. Staff explained that federal/state rules require monitoring for up to 30 years after capping, but the city procures three‑year consultant contracts rather than locking to a single firm for three decades; additional emergency work would be contracted separately.
Councilors asked for more reporting about the 'trash czar' position (a part-time DPW assignment pending a full-time job description) and about whether the city is recouping fines. Staff said an employee is presently performing the duties and a full-time job description is being prepared for future approval.
What happens next: staff will provide the inventory/sales reports for overflow bags and additional detail on the trash-coordinator role and fine-recovery at a future council meeting.
