AMHERST — A $1 million transfer from free cash to support road and sidewalk improvements, addressing a backlog of repairs, and $125,000 in free cash to continue efforts to determine whether a town-sponsored waste hauler program is feasible are among several financial orders the Town Council will take up following a public forum Monday.

The public forum on the appropriations will be held at 7 p.m. at the Town Room at Town Hall, with the public able to participate in person or via Zoom. The forum is part of the process to potentially transfer $4.88 million in free cash.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman wrote in a memo to the Town Council that the $1 million for roads and sidewalks will allow more resurfacing to be done in 2025.

“These additional contributions allow the town to make progress while also dealing with inflationary pressures in the marketplace,” Bockelman wrote.

At a recent Finance Committee meeting, though, At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke asked whether there would be sufficient capacity from local contractors to do more work next year.

“If we appropriate now, we can put that in the bid and we can actually bid it out and guarantee that’s what’s in the bid can be performed next season,” said Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring.

Waste hauler program

For creating a town-sponsored waste hauler program, $125,000 will pay a consultant to write a request for proposals and to do associated outreach work with the potential change to how garbage is handled in town.

Advocates are hoping the town would negotiate and contract with one or more waste haulers on behalf of residents for collection of their household trash, unlimited recyclables and compostables, establish a robust pay-as-you-throw fee structure, and require curbside composting.

Currently, haulers are licensed by the Board of Health and contracted by residents, who also have the option of using the transfer station.

Sidewalk plow, other items

The capital spending that generated the most discussion by the Finance Committee is $200,000 in free cash to buy a new sidewalk plow, ensuring that all town-maintained sidewalks can continue to be kept clear of snow and ice this winter.

Mooring said the DPW likes to keep two plows in good shape and usually has a spare to meet the obligations. “The spare died and then the second one died, and we’re down to one now,” Mooring said.

The sidewalk plow is narrow, with dedicated tools and attachments, and can be used all four seasons. Its primary purpose, though, is to maintain the town’s commitment for safe routes to schools and other walkable areas. “It takes 24 hours with two machines to get the sidewalks clear,” Mooring said.

But Hanneke wondered if climate change would mean less demand.

“Maybe in a couple of years, sadly, we’re not even going to have snow to plow,” Hanneke said, while also suggesting a change in town policy that would reduce the sidewalks plowed by the town.

Mooring joked that the costs for such equipment may come down if the demand for plowing goes away.

“Actually if ski resorts close, maybe we could pick up some cheap groomers, and do that instead of plowing,” Mooring said.

Other free cash transfers are based on policies already established by the Town Council.

One of these is putting money into the reparations stabilization fund. This year’s amount is $74,334, which is equal to the annual cannabis tax collections and consistent with the council’s direction for establishing this fund that will eventually be used to help African heritage descendants. That would bring the fund to $559,106.

The largest transfer is $3.95 million from free cash into the capital stabilization fund, bringing that balance to $11.65 million. This transfer will be based on the town’s reserve policy that calls for contributing any free cash in excess of 5% of the operating budget to this fund.

A final action is to appropriate $188,049 from free cash to a separate revolving fund for money received by Amherst from opioid settlement funds, for costs related to opioid use disorder.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.