WELLFLEET — The new pay-as-you-throw household trash disposal program saved money and increased recycling in its first three months, according to Town Administrator Harry Terkanian.
But the true test will occur during the summer, Terkanian said in a report on March 21 to the Board of Selectmen.
"Summer, that's a big unknown," Selectman Paul Pilcher said on Wednesday, referring to visitors, tourists and seasonal residents coming to the transfer station during peak season.
The Board of Health, with the selectmen's approval of fees, voted to implement pay-as-you-throw March 13, 2013, as part of the town's ongoing effort to reduce the cost of trucking household trash off-Cape. The program began Dec. 1.
The idea with PAYT is that anyone wanting to throw away household waste at the transfer station has to use a specific plastic trash bag that can be purchased in town for between 50 cents and $1.50, depending on the size. Forcing the purchase of household trash bags is meant to increase the recycling of materials — such as cans and glass — that a resident typically treats as trash. Recyclables collection is free, although all residents still have to buy an annual vehicle sticker to use the transfer station.
Two other towns on Cape Cod — Brewster and Sandwich — have implemented PAYT. In October, the Chatham selectmen decided against adopting the program.
Some refinements of the program may be needed in Wellfleet, though.
The selectmen on Tuesday voted to recommend that the Board of Health look into offering special disposal bags for diapers and a community compost pile. Selectmen also asked the board to look into ways to attract private trash haulers, to make allowances for large families and to recycle Styrofoam through a regional approach. The selectmen also want the board to explain its proposed $35 transfer station vehicle sticker fee for the new fiscal year, based on an understanding that the fee would be $25.
The selectmen's actions come after a March 10 public meeting held to air concerns about PAYT.
"We hopefully addressed and responded to them," Pilcher said of the issues that were raised by residents. "The other one that's really the knottiest problem is that some of the young families with young children are feeling put on."
In his own research, Pilcher said he found some young families were supportive of PAYT.
"We don't want anybody to feel punished," he said. "That's not our objective."
The Board of Health proposed the $35 fee because of a new per-ton expense at the transfer station for disposing of recyclables, a regional fee unrelated to PAYT, Board of Health Chairman Richard Willecke said Thursday. The board was attempting to be fiscally responsible, particularly given the lack of a year's worth of data on how much recyclables PAYT will generate, Willecke said.
"We certainly look forward to considering their suggestion," Willecke said. "We're glad to work with them on that."
Wellfleet saved about $6,000 from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28 on transporting and disposing of household trash, according to Terkanian's report. The town increased by 66 percent the amount of materials recycled at the transfer station, compared to the same period in the previous year. Overall, the tons of recycling and household waste combined were reduced by 25 percent, compared to the prior year.
The overall decrease of 25 percent is "significant" and somewhat mysterious, Terkanian said in his report. The overall drop could be explained by residents choosing to use commercial haulers that dispose of trash at other municipal transfer stations; by increased disposal at home through composting; or through unidentified reasons, he said.
Also, losses in municipal revenue because of a lower sticker fee appear to be offset by gains in revenue for plastic bag sales, but more months of data are needed to make a full analysis, Terkanian said.
In town records, Wellfleet has begun to refer to the PAYT program as SMART, for "Save Money and Reduce Trash."
Late last year, Michael and Dale Rice of South Wellfleet, opponents of PAYT, did not obtain enough signatures on recall petitions to unseat Berta Bruinooge, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and Selectman John Morrissey, who identifies himself as a PAYT advocate.
At the upcoming annual town meeting, two petitioned articles ask voters to change the Board of Health's constituency by making its members elected rather than appointed and to eliminate the health board's influence on setting fees at the transfer station.
The five-member Board of Health has the legal authority to regulate disposal of trash, while the authority to set fees at the transfer station rests with the selectmen, according to Terkanian. The town charter dictates that the Board of Health be appointed by the selectmen.
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WELLFLEET — The Board of Selectmen will discuss March 25 what they heard Monday during a public meeting about the new pay-as-you-throw household trash program.
Meanwhile, opponents are organizing for the upcoming May 12 annual town meeting.
Pay-as-you-throw mandates that household trash can only be tossed away at the transfer station if it's in special bags that residents have to purchase, for 50 cents to $1.50. The program began Dec. 1 at the town transfer station as a way to encourage more recycling and to reduce the amount of household trash having to be taken off-Cape to a solid-waste processor. The town hopes to reduce its annual solid waste costs.
On Monday, an estimated 90 people attended the meeting held by the selectmen, said Selectman John Morrissey. About a third spoke publicly, with about two-thirds of those in favor of pay-as-you-throw and a third against, Morrissey said Wednesday.
Selectmen called the meeting because of confusion and dissent by some community members about the new trash system.
Two petitioned articles on the annual town meeting warrant grew out of the opposition. The articles divest the board of health of its ability to influence fee-setting at the transfer station and would make the board of health elected rather than appointed, according to town records.
The primary legal authority for pay-as-you-throw rests with the board of health, according to Town Administrator Harry Terkanian.
That board voted 4-0 about a year ago to institute pay-as-you-throw, including suggested fees. Selectmen approved the fees 5-0 last March.
"You can't say that purple bags are important to the health of the people of Wellfleet," opponent Roger Putnam said Wednesday. Putnam sponsored the two petitioned articles and believes town meeting voters should have been asked before the plan was implemented.
From December through February, the town processed 92 tons of recycling compared to 55 tons the year before, about a 65 percent increase, according to town records. Also from December through February, the town sent 286 tons of solid waste to SEMASS compared to 449 tons in the previous year, about a 36 percent reduction, according to town records.
SEMASS, the Southeastern Massachusetts Resource Recovery Facility in Rochester, produces electricity through the processing of solid waste.
