Select Board awarded trash contract to Harvey Services; Finance Committee cites $110,000 savings

Adam told the Finance Committee that the Select Board voted that evening to award the town’s trash and recycling contract to Harvey Services. He said the new contractor will keep the existing automated pickup schedule and that residents should see no change in service timing.

Adam said the selectmen-awarded contract is five years long and will produce roughly $110,000 in savings compared with the prior arrangement. "They're going to honor the same exact schedule we currently have ... and we ended up saving $110,000 there," Adam said, adding that the projected savings helped the town put additional money toward the school budget.

Why it matters: The contract award was approved by the Select Board (not by the Finance Committee) but was discussed in the finance meeting because staff credited the savings for helping balance the FY27 operating totals. The committee and staff said the award enabled reallocation of funds to priority areas without raising the townwide budget beyond the presented figures.

Contract details reported in meeting: Adam said the vendor will honor the current automated pickup schedule; the award term is five years and the Select Board will send a mailing to residents with details. Staff estimated total five‑year savings of about $110,000 and a larger cumulative saving of approximately $540,000 referenced by Mr. Manard when counting slight annual increases, as discussed in the meeting.

Next steps: Select Board and town staff will distribute a newsletter to residents with service details and effective dates. Finance staff said they incorporated the projected savings into FY27 planning. The Finance Committee voted later in the same meeting to approve departmental budgets that reflected those savings.