Here is a complete YouTube video of the 3/21/11 meeting of Northampton’s Solid Waste Reduction and Management Task Force. This recording was made by Craig Odgers and is 2 hours 40 minutes long. The task force expects its March 28 meeting (6:30pm, JFK Middle School) to be its last before it presents its recommendations to the Board of Public Works.
A 5-4 majority of the task force favored keeping both the Glendale Road and Locust Street transfer stations open for the present. A somewhat larger majority expressed interest in moving towards a citywide curbside pickup system (with opt-out) in the future. Such a system is expected to reduce costs for households currently using a private subscription service (about half the households in Northampton). It might also facilitate the improvement of recycling rates.
Below, this 13-minute YouTube excerpt from the meeting shows Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection consultant Arlene Miller presenting an overview of citywide curbside trash collection.
The following presentations describe the four options considered by the task force and their estimated costs. Advocates for citywide curbside collection point out that such a system is likely to reduce transportation fuel use and costs, with fewer garbage trucks on the roads and fewer resident trips to transfer stations. These transportation costs are not part of Table 1.
See also:
Gazette: “Northampton waste panel narrowly favors current trash disposal system” (3/22/11)
In a 5-4 vote Monday, the Solid Waste Reduction and Management Task Force sided with keeping the city’s current system of solid-waste disposal in place, but with an eye on a curbside collection [system] in the future.
The nine-member panel is charged with making recommendations by April 1 to the Board of Public Works for the reduction and management of solid waste in the city. The city’s landfill is slated to close in mid-2012.
Video and Minutes: Solid Waste Task Force, March 14, 2011
Gazette: “Northampton residents like transfer stations for trash disposal” (3/8/11)
According to the task force, about half the city’s households use private haulers for curbside trash and recycling services, but they were thinly represented Monday night.
Valley Regional Recycling & Transfer Facility Open for Business (2/25/11)