I am writing to voice my concern over the proposed “pay-as-you-throw” plan that would result in the closure of the Amherst Transfer Station. In its place, every garage in town would receive containers large enough to store the two weeks’ worth of garbage, recycling and compost generated by each household. The impact of so much stored trash throughout town upon our wildland-urban interface would have consequences that must be considered, such as greater roadkill, higher rodent populations and more barking at night.
Equally worthy of consideration is the loss of a “third place” — a location that is neither work nor home but supportive of both — in ways both measurable and immeasurable. On a busy “dump day” work trucks and luxury cars park side by side while they are emptied of refuse under the watchful eyes of the Transfer Station team. The values we cherish as a community, freely expressed and accessible here, voices from rolled-down windows or from behind a stack of flattened cardboard (accompanied by a symphony of glass and garbage in transit) discussing local news, opinion and weather, would be the envy of any Town Hall forum and a loss for our community should it close. We must work to preserve our social places for future generations.
Brendan Larson
Amherst