AMHERST — Concerns over the operation of the town transfer station, should a pay-as-you-throw curbside trash, recycling and compost system be implemented, have led Town Council members to call for a more in-depth community discussion.
The council’s Town Services and Outreach Committee has been directed to bring forward a plan for a town-contracted waste hauler service for about 5,000 households by putting out a request for proposal and seeing what companies are interested in such a project. Before that advertisement is finalized and published, however, two councilors at Monday’s meeting said they would like to see more input from residents.
For several meetings over the spring, summer and into the fall, the council committee has been working with Mimi Kaplan, a consultant with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, to draft the language of the request for proposal. This document includes details about what the town is seeking, from the frequency of pick-ups, the size of containers for trash and recyclables and how soon compost pick-up could be arranged.
District 3 Councilor George Ryan, who chairs the committee, said the draft request for proposal will likely take another month before it returns to the committee, town staff and the public for review. Ryan said he believes the earliest the request for proposal would go out would be in early 2027.
Ryan said the town will get financial estimates from companies that respond to the request, and then any proposal can be shaped into a town bylaw. During that process, councilors would reach out to the public to get the community’s thoughts and determine if this is worth pursuing.
The plans have been initiated by Zero Waste Amherst, a community group trying to incentivize people to consider what they put in the trash and to seek townwide composting.
“Throughout that process there will be many, many opportunities for people to weigh in,” Ryan said.
The highest, or most advantageous, mark goes to any company that doesn’t change the transfer station, he said.
“I think at this point we need to get some answers, and then the sponsors need to craft a proposal, and then the process starts,” Ryan said.
District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen said she would support a forum sooner rather than later, hearing a lot of concerns around the transfer station.
“I thought there would be some step before we went out for an RFP,” Schoen said.
Schoen wondered if the Town Council should amend the motion it adopted two years ago to account for this extra step.
District 5 Councilor Sam MacLeod said he, too, has received numerous inquiries from constituents with various concerns and asking for a listening session.
“I think it might be beneficial from an outcome standpoint, but the question is, would it be considered?” MacLerod said.
Council President Mandi Jo Hanneke said an agenda item may be added in the coming weeks.
Concern has come from landlords worrying about adding a burden to tenants and from USA, the hauler that currently handles almost all residential trash and recycling pickup in town.
Eric Fredericksen, vice president of operations for USA, wrote that he worries about reducing the size of trash carts and then having people buy extra bags for trash that would be placed loose at curbside, creating significant operational and safety concerns.
“While some of the studies focus specifically on rear-loading collection vehicles, their findings regarding worker safety apply equally to any collection system that permits overflow bags and requires workers to exit the truck to retrieve or process them. The underlying concern is not limited to a particular vehicle configuration, but rather the repeated exposure of workers on foot to traffic, uneven surfaces, lifting and handling hazards, and other risks associated with manual collection,” Fredericksen wrote.
Steve Telega, the town’s solid waste and recycling supervisor, sent a letter to those who bring their trash and recyclables to the transfer station indicating that there are no imminent charges.
“We want to assure you that, for now, our employees don’t have any additional information other than what’s been made available to the public,” he wrote, noting that wider discussion and decisions would come once costs and other details were available. “We also want to assure you that we will continue to provide all of our services, including accepting household trash and composting, as this process continues.”
