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Council hears options to preserve Ivory Street recycling center as budget pressures force reduced hours
Summary
Staff reported the drop-off center will operate Fridays and Saturdays under a reduced FY27 budget and that full, year-round operation would cost about $193,000; closing it in January would save roughly $90,000. Councilors urged more outreach and asked staff to explore consolidation and alternative funding before final decisions are made.
The council received an update from town staff on the Ivory Street recycling drop-off center and discussed possible actions to keep the service available to residents. Staff said the center currently operates two days a week (Friday and Saturday) and that projected full-year operation would have cost roughly $193,000; closing the center in January would result in a projected FY27 savings of about $90,000. The compost operation was identified separately and estimated to cost between $130,000 and $150,000 annually to process leaves and brush.
On options to preserve service, staff noted a potential increase to the trash‑sticker fee to about $64 would be required under one model presented; they also discussed consolidating functions with the town’s leaf/compost facility and exploring operational efficiencies. Residents’ concerns and councilor questions focused on outreach, multilingual notices and equity for non‑English speakers; a councilor pointed out that MassDOT/MassWorks templates were used for some mailings and that translations had not been provided to date. The council voted to table the item for further study and requested additional data and outreach results at the September meeting.
What happens next: staff will provide requested survey data and follow up on options including targeted outreach, language access and potential consolidation of services; the council will revisit the item in September.
