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Shaftsbury Select Board Votes to Rent a New Compactor for its Transfer Station

Posted: October 14, 2024

SHAFTSBURY – Changes are coming to the Shaftsbury Transfer Station. The Select Board voted 5-0 at its Oct. 7 meeting enter into a rental agreement for a new trash compactor. By the same vote, board members voted to add a sliding window to the station office so residents can pay from their cars.

The board also discussed coming up with a pamphlet showing transfer station expenses versus revenues, in part to dispel the false impression that the operation is a revenue maker.

Town Manager Paula Iken began the discussion by saying the transfer station was going through some growing pains and several things needed to be fixed. One recent problem was people yelling at the two station workers because residents have to pay for stickers and bags. For this reason, a town constable has been present at the station recently during operating hours.

"Yes, it's expensive," Iken said. "Trash removal is expensive."

In fiscal 2024, the transfer station operation received $84,107 in revenues and had $151,343 in expenditures for a deficit of $67,236, she said.

Broken down, revenue sources in 2024 were: Brush: $1,060. Appliances: $1,118. Tires: $662. Access permits: $7,980. Per bag disposal, about $73,287.

The expenditure total doesn't include renting a compactor, paying the two workers, or paying the constable to be present, Iken said.

"Pownal is considering closing their transfer station, and I know Shaftsbury has considered it in the past, too," she said. "We're not making money off your bags of garbage. I know it's expensive. Things are really tight for everyone right now. We're running at a loss every single year, and it's an expense of the town. It is not really a revenue center. "

When people dump their trash there and don't pay it adds to the burden on town taxpayers.

"We have that shortfall, and we can only kind of bridge the gap so much, and every little bit helps," Iken sad. "All of it helps the town, because it's a burden on the taxpayers when people don't pay. So, there's that, there's the money thing. At the same time, things are breaking down."

The current compactor is breaking down every day the transfer station is open. The ram compacting the trash isn't working properly, officials said.

Iken read from an email from Joseph McGuire from Casella Waste Systems, the town's trash hauler, about the compactor.

"The compactor in Shaftsbury is at the point where it needs to be replaced. The cylinders are weak. The machine has had several issues," she read. "The new compactor would have a bigger hopper, so you wouldn't have to compact the trash as frequently. It also wouldn't need a ramp anymore."

Iken said the ramp is a safety issue. "A new compactor is $39,000," she added. "The rental on a new compactor is around $900 a month."

Casella is willing to help with some of the cost to get a newer compacter installed.

"We can do it for $575 a month. The town is currently paying $275 a month, so would go up $300 a month with a new machine," Iken said. "We would also have to change the length of the current contract from three to five years."

Board members looked at a slide of the new unit model.

The town pays per pickup, which will happen less often because the new unit will have more capacity.

"Every time they haul it away it is $185 plus $144 per ton of what's inside it," said Mike Yannotti, foreman of the Public Works Department. "The ram isn't pushing the bags in there, so we're paying extra, and have been for a while, because the compactor is not compacting the garbage inside the container."

"It's definitely going to cost more, but we're probably going to save a little bit, because it's not going to have to be emptied three times a week for no reason, when it should be once a week, or once every two weeks," he added.

Board Chair Naomi Miller said every increase in cost is going to be upsetting to people, "so we have to engage in dialogue about why it's so expensive."

Board Vice Chair Martha Cornwell said the trash has to go somewhere.

"It's not being buried at the spot anymore. It's being shipped somewhere else and being buried somewhere else in somebody else's backyard and we are paying for that privilege to not have it in our own yard."

Board member Michael Cichanowski suggested printing out a simple pamphlet for residents to explain the transfer station expenses. "People generally think it's a revenue making thing," he said.

After approving the rental agreement for a new compactor, the Board also voted to approve installation of a sliding window in the side of the new transfer station building for drive-up payments. This is to avoid people coming in and out of the building constantly to pay during the winter.

"It's going to be changed for people," Yannotti said. "They're going to have to stop and pay before they throw their trash away, because you know what you're bringing to the dump." Other changes will be made to direct cars coming in at the entrance toward the building. A constable will be present when the changes go into effect.

The transfer station is located on North Road and is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Compliments of: The Bennington Banner
Posted/Author: Mark Rondeau

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