More discussion on use – and misuse — of China transfer station

by Mary Grow

China transfer station committee members held another long and lively discussion at their June 6 meeting about the best way to make sure only people entitled to use the town’s transfer station do so.

The eligible people are residents of China and Palermo. China taxpayers support the facility; Palermo, by contract, sends an annual payment, in addition to money residents pay for the blue bags they need for their trash.

Current admission is by an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag hung from a vehicle’s rearview mirror. The problem is that some tag-holders lend their tags to unauthorized users, or keep them when they move out of town.

In the past, China used stickers attached to the vehicle. Committee members have said repeatedly that some people do not want stickers on their vehicles.

By the end of the discussion, committee members agreed they will recommend a new system. To enter the transfer station, a vehicle must have an RFID tag; and the tag must have a current-year sticker with the vehicle’s license number.

Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio likes the RFID tags because the reader at the station makes an audible beep when a tag passes its camera. If a vehicle comes in and there is no beep, someone checks to see why not.

Adding the sticker with license number links the RFID tag to a specific vehicle.

The plan as of June 6 was to require stickers be renewed annually. The initial RFID tag would cost China residents $10, to cover the expense of buying them; Palermo residents’ tags would be free, as provided in the two-town contract. Stickers would be free for residents of both towns.

Exceptions to the policy will be developed for renters; people whose work means they regularly drive more than one vehicle (law enforcement personnel and car dealers were examples); and others who need an accommodation.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood intends to write up the policy for a final committee review before committee members forward it to the China select board.

Committee member J. Christopher Baumann commented a new policy will mean retraining facility users. There was consensus some people would be unhappy.

There was further consensus that some people – a minority – are already unhappy and express their displeasure by harassing staff members as they try to enforce regulations.

In other business, committee members began discussion of a request from Albion town officials to bring to the China transfer station items excluded from Albion’s curbside pick-up program, including white goods, electronics and light bulbs. The discussion will continue.

Maraggio gave committee members a progress report: the grant application for lighting in the free for the taking building was unsuccessful; the new shipping container for mattress storage is reportedly on its way; the recently installed heat pumps are working well; and the experts who recalibrated the scales predict another 10 years’ life for them.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 11.