Towns kick PAYT to the curb
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
JERRY DOW, chair of the Perham selectmen, listens as a resident poses a question regarding the Pay-As-You-Throw program during a tri-community town meeting with Perham, Wade and Washburn. Citizens in all three towns voted to discontinue the program. Pictured from left: Dow, and Selectmen Andrew McLaughlin and Wade Snyder.
By Kathy McCarty
The Pay-As-You-Throw program will be discontinued in Perham, Wade and Washburn, following a three-community town meeting, held at the Washburn Elementary School on Jan. 29.
On hand to explain options available to residents were a number of town officials, including: Jerry Dow, chair of the Perham selectmen, and Selectmen Andrew McLaughlin and Wade Snyder; Donna Turner, chair of the Wade selectmen, and Selectman Wayne Dow; Washburn’s Town Manager Bev Turner, Town Council Chair Keith Brown, and Councilors Fred Thomas, Mike Umphrey and Daren Churchill. Absent were Wade Selectman Freeman Corey and Washburn Councilor Kermit Fuller. Over 200 citizens turned out for the event.
Turner said what was supposed to be a decreasing fee for solid waste removal has instead steadily increased for Washburn.
“It will be just over $97,000 if we stay in the program for the coming year,” she said.
The Washburn town manager explained how the program has changed continually since Washburn residents voted to join in 2011.
“In 2011 residents voted to participate in the Pay-As-You-Throw program as recommended by the city of Presque Isle, with residents purchasing orange bags for garbage and free blue bags provided for recycling, with both being picked up once a week by Gil’s Sanitation. Residents could opt out and pay their own hauler fee if they chose to do so,” said Turner. “In 2011, the amount paid by the town of Washburn to the city of Presque Isle was $38,403.”
Presque Isle officials implemented changes the following year that resulted in an increased rate for Washburn and its fellow communities, said Turner.
“In 2012, the amount requested by Presque Isle was $86,887, an increase of $48,484. The price of the orange bags was also increased. Due to the fact that the PAYT program did not have the expected result, the amount due Presque Isle actually increased, rather than decreased,” said Turner, adding, “At the 2012 town meeting, residents voted to stay with the program and pay the requested fee.”
This year, Washburn and the other communities faced additional changes and another rate increase.
“This year we are faced with yet another increase. This special town meeting is to see if the town will withdraw from the PAYT program in order to reduce the fee paid to Presque Isle for solid waste (paying the required debt service fee and not paying curbside collection fee), in which case each household in the town would be required to dispose of its own garbage, either by having it picked up by a hauler or by taking it to the landfill,” explained Turner.
Residents of the Perham, Wade and Washburn were presented three options to choose from, with the only difference being the fees charged each community for its participation in Presque Isle’s solid waste program.
For Washburn, the options were as follows:
• Option 1 — to stay with the PAYT program (if the amount paid to the hauler per month stays the same as has been paid for PAYT), the cost for the year would be $97,021. In this scenario, residents would be required to buy both orange and blue bags to be picked up by a hauler once a week. Residents would still have the option of not participating in the program and hiring their own hauler or taking their garbage to the landfill themselves. The breakdown: Debt Service, $23,767; plus curbside, $107,640; less credit, $34,386; for a total due of $97,021.
Turner said Presque Isle would no longer be working with the haulers for other towns, so under this proposal Washburn would have to put the service out to bid if residents wished to stay with PAYT.
• Option 2 — to stay with the Presque Isle landfill, but withdraw from the PAYT program. In this scenario, the only fee that would be paid by the town for the year is the debt service amount of $23,767. This would require residents to hire a hauler of their choice or take their garbage to the landfill themselves. This was the system in place prior to PAYT’s adoption.
• Option 3 — to withdraw from the Presque Isle landfill. The buyout fee to be paid in the year of withdrawal would be $309,698 and Washburn would still be responsible for payment of the debt service fee ($23,767) each year until 2042, the end of the contract between Presque Isle and the other member communities.
“In a nutshell, the fees paid to the city of Presque Isle for garbage since 2010 are: 2010, $49,043, with no PAYT; 2011, $38,403, first year of PAYT; 2012, $86,887, an increase of $48,484 with PAYT; and proposed for 2013, $97,011, an increase of $10,124, if we continue with PAYT as is,” said Turner.
She said staying with the program would affect taxpayers. Turner recommended citizens consider pulling out of the program.
“The proposed amount for 2013 equates to almost 2 mils of your tax rate being designated for garbage. This would be in addition to having to purchase orange and blue bags if you stay with the PAYT program or in addition to paying a monthly fee for a hauler or a landfill fee if you choose not to participate in PAYT,” said Turner.
Turner said from what she’s heard, Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill will remain in the program.
An extensive discussion between citizens and representatives of all three towns followed, with Tom Berube, owner of Gil’s Sanitation, on hand to answer additional questions about garbage service in the region.
Berube said if PAYT were discontinued, fees for pickup would be based on the number of clients who sign up in a given community. He said rates are based on the distance his trucks/crews have to travel and the number of accounts in a particular area. For Washburn, he indicated the monthly charge for service would be approximately $35, with a two-barrel limit per week.
“At $112.50 per ton for a landfill tipping fee, we have to set limits,” said Berube.
Citizens from all three communities voted in favor of Option 2, to pull out of the PAYT program, and either choose their own hauler or haul their own trash to the landfill. Officials with Perham, Wade and Washburn have to give Presque Isle officials a 30-day notice to leave the program. Turner said residents should plan to begin handling their own trash (hire a hauler or haul their own) beginning March 1.
During Monday night’s City Council meeting in Presque Isle, City Manager Jim Bennett told councilors he’d been informed of the decision reached by the three communities and that “from a financial perspective, it doesn’t have an adverse impact on our budget.” Bennett told councilors he’d “firm up the figures and present them at a later date.”
