China transfer committee members present list of goals

by Mary Grow

China’s Transfer Station Committee members put revisions to the 2021 vision statement for the facility in near-final form at their April 8 meeting.

The single-page document is a list of goals. Much of the discussion was about how to help China residents, and those in Palermo who use China’s facility, realize how much money recycling saves for local taxpayers.

One aspect of recycling is the swap shop: people are invited to drop off household items, clothing, shoes and other things that other people could use, and to bring home things that appeal to them.

Committee member Rachel Anderson, a swap shop volunteer, asked if items that went through the shop got counted as recyclables. Transfer Station Manager Thomas Maraggio and Public Works Director Shawn Reed said yes: the state has a formula that lets them calculate approximately how much weight is removed from the waste stream.

At the previous committee meeting, Anderson raised the problem of donated shoes getting separated from their mates. Committee member James Hsiang said he had donated metal clips to hold pairs together; but people who took shoes kept the clips, despite a sign asking them not to (which soon disappeared).

Hsiang plans to try again with less expensive clips and a more permanent sign.

A paragraph in the vision statement deals with generating power at the transfer station. A waste incinerator was mentioned at previous meetings, solar panels on April 8.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said select board members are not presently interested in exploring power-generating options.

Committee members again discussed transfer station users who ignore rules. Bob Kurek, one of Palermo’s two representatives on the committee, is following up on one scofflaw. Hapgood plans to talk with another, a China resident who was rude to attendants.

Several committee members praised Maraggio for his new informational signs, and all staff members for keeping the facility clean and for their hard work and courtesy. Benjamin Weymouth commented that every visit to the facility is “a positive experience” for him.

Maraggio and Reed expressed regret at the resignation of part-time transfer station employee Timothy Hatch. Finding and training new staff is time-consuming and expensive, they agreed. On May 6, Hapgood and available committee members plan to visit the Hampden disposal and recycling facility, now managed by an entity named Municipal Wastehub (formerly Municipal Review Committee). Used by many Maine municipalities until it closed several years ago, since struggling to reopen, Hampden is now coming back to life.

Maraggio said it reopened as a transfer station for a limited number of towns on April 7. Reed said recycling is scheduled for next fall and later a more ambitious waste-to-energy plan.

The next China Transfer Station Committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 13.