Tag Archive for: transfer station — China

China transfer station manager: Things are going smoothly

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by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members held a short and cheerful meeting the morning of Oct. 8. Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio and committee member Rachel Anderson, who volunteers at the free for the taking building, both said things are going smoothly.

The one major pending issue is the revised agreement between China and Palermo allowing Palermo residents to use China’s transfer station. It has been approved by China’s select board members, but in Palermo needs approval by town meeting voters.

Palermo officials have scheduled a public hearing and special town meeting for 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 17, at Palermo Consolidated School, to act on the revised agreement. The Palermo website says copies of the agreement are posted under Transfer Station and are available at the town office.

China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said if Palermo residents reject the amended agreement, the November 2023 letter giving the required year’s notice to end the intertown arrangement will take effect on Nov. 13.

Maraggio reported the water filters designed to eliminate PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from the facility’s water supply were installed, and the water no longer smells. The filters are to be inspected every six months and changed when needed, he said, with the length of their useful life depending on the amount of use.

Hapgood said China got 50 percent state reimbursement for the filters. She will find out whether the state contributes to inspection and replacement costs.

The pad for the new building by the gate where China residents can pick up buckets of winter sand is down, Maraggio said. When the building is finished, he intends to put signs on it explaining where different kinds of recyclables and trash go.

Committee chairman J. Christopher Baumann reported on plans to invite teachers to bring classes to tour the transfer station and learn about recycling.

Hapgood and committee members praised the Halloween decorations at the facility, and the flowers that have been planted. Maraggio said his wife is the flower-tender, assisted by a small annual grant from a Waterville garden organization.

Baumann expressed the committee’s thanks to all involved.

The next transfer station committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12. The agenda is likely to include renewed discussion of the facility’s five-year plan, in preparation for 2024-25 budget planning.

China transfer station committee still working out relations with Palermo

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by Mary Grow

At their June 18 meeting, China Transfer Station Committee members continued to work on three items: straightening out China’s relations with Palermo, enforcing regulations and promoting recycling.

Under a 2016 inter-town agreement, Palermo residents use China’s transfer station, with a proper pass and special blue bags for which they pay. Palermo also pays China an annual fee – $18,000, with no provision for inflation adjustment.

The transfer station committee includes Palermo representatives Chris Diesch and Robert Kurek.

China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood has given Palermo the required year’s notice of China’s intent to end the agreement. Since then, she and Kurek have been negotiating about an amended agreement.

At the June 18 meeting, Kurek said they are making progress, to the point where he is drafting language for a revised agreement. Neither he nor Hapgood volunteered details or a timetable.

The main reason to enforce transfer station regulations is to bar unauthorized users, so China taxpayers do not subsidize waste disposal for people who make no contribution to costs. Other goals are to ensure that fees are collected for items that cost money to get rid of – mattresses, propane tanks, electronics, for example – and that no illegal items are left for attendants to deal with.

Committee members have considered inspection at the entrance, maybe a gatehouse. During the June 18 meeting, they and transfer station staff proposed a trial during which staff will stop and inspect each incoming vehicle, tentatively scheduled for the second or third week in July.

Following up on the previous month’s discussion of recycling, Diesch had drafted a recycling poster that brought praise and follow-up ideas. The plan is to emphasize to local taxpayers that recycling saves them money in two ways: no disposal fees are paid on recyclables not sent to a disposal facility, and some recyclables generate small amounts of income.

A related project is encouraging teachers in area schools to bring students to see how waste disposal and recycling work, after a successful visit by Manchester kindergartners (see the May 30 issue of The Town Line, p. 14). Committee chairman Christopher Baumann intends to talk with area principals and superintendents.

In other business June 18:

— Transfer Station Manager Thomas Maraggio said the installation of solar lights in the free for the taking building is almost done – one more light will finish the project. He has not yet been able to get “the cement guy” for the planned new pad under the compost pile.
— Maraggio and Hapgood said transfer station staff will no longer use their loader to load (free) compost for residents, because of potential liability. People coming for compost need to bring shovels.
— Hapgood shared the updated transfer station access policy approved at the June 17 select board meeting. Most changes clarify access passes for temporary residents.
Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, skipping the month of July.

China transfer station committee looks into relationship with Palermo

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by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members’ April 16 discussion of use and abuse of the waste disposal facility ranged from minutely detailed to widely philosophical.

Two issues dominated, the free for the taking building and relations with Palermo. Palermo residents share use of China’s facility under a contract that China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood finds unsatisfactory.

The free for the taking building is intended as a swap shop, where people leave things they no longer use but believe other people would. Often, they’re right – station manager Thomas Maraggio said the great majority of items are picked up immediately.

However, as committee chairman Christopher Baumann said, free for the taking is not the same as free for the leaving. Transfer station attendants charge a fee for items they will pay to dispose of – couches were an often-cited example. If the person who left a paid-for item is still there when someone claims it, the fee is refunded.

Some people object to the fee, or try to smuggle in valueless things. Staff members or security cameras often catch them.

Committee member James Hsiang characterized such behavior as abuse of the system. Maraggio and committee member Rachel Anderson said instances are rare.

Most people believe someone else will use their discards, Anderson said – “Ninety-nine percent of people are well-intentioned.” However, the free for the taking building is small, with limited space to store things until a new user claims them.

The 17-year China-Palermo contract, signed June 3, 2016, calls for Palermo to pay an annual $18,000 fee to China, and for Palermo residents to buy special blue bags in which to put their trash. There is no provision for the annual fee to increase (or decrease) over the life of the contract. Disposal fees and bag costs can be adjusted, with six months’ notice to Palermo.

The agreement says identifying decals or window stickers are free. Therefore, when China bought new windshield stickers last year and charged $2 for them, committee and Palermo select board member Robert Kurek said Palermo residents would not pay.

An alternate system was approved, which does not satisfy everyone, leading to occasional arguments between Palermo residents and transfer station staff.

Maraggio said some Palermo residents come in without blue bags. Others bring their trash in black bags, park at the hopper and put each black bag into a blue one, thereby delaying others waiting to use the hopper and doubling plastic use.

The 2016 agreement allows either town to cancel on a year’s notice, for violation of the contract or for just cause. In November 2023, Hapgood sent Palermo the required year’s notice of China’s intent to cancel, citing Palermo residents’ actions.

The two towns’ lawyers are debating the issue.

At the April 16 meeting, Kurek described in detail complaints he received from China and his follow-up discussions with alleged offenders. His point was that the actions described did not amount to a “just cause” to cancel the contract.

He incidentally made the point that different parties’ accounts of the same incident were not always alike.

Baumann and other committee members thanked Kurek for his prompt follow-ups.

Committee member James Hines said China should punish individual repeat offenders, not all Palermo users. Benjamin Weymouth suggested mediation – which is not in the contract, Kurek pointed out.

Hsiang suggested instead of imposing penalties for misusing the transfer station, offering rewards for using it well. He proposed inviting users to enter a contest: each family would have its trash weighed, and every three months those with the least trash – thereby costing taxpayers least, and presumably recycling – would be winners.

Baumann asked Hsiang to develop a more specific plan, with an estimate of costs and time required, and share it before the next meeting, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 14.

Palermo rep., China members have amicable discussion on Palermo residents’ use of transfer station

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by Mary Grow

China transfer station committee members, including Palermo representative Robert Kurek, had an amicable discussion at their Feb. 13 meeting, even though one of the topics was whether Palermo residents will continue to have access to the China facility.

As Kurek, China Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood and committee members summarized the situation, the two towns are in the seventh year of a 17-year contract, written and approved by China town officials, that lets Palermo residents share the transfer station, provided that:

— Palermo pays China an $18,000 annual fee (with no adjustment for inflation);
— Palermo residents buy and use colored bags (the bag price is adjustable, and Hapgood and Kurek agreed on a formula in 2022), but they are not charged for tags, stickers or similar identifying devices; and
— Palermo and China residents pay the same fees for bulky waste, white goods, furniture and other items for which fees are charged.

Hapgood, alleging that Palermo residents have violated contract provisions, sent Palermo the required year’s notice to end the contract for cause. Palermo’s attorney replied in January; she disputed the alleged violations and said there is no cause.

Sitting side by side at the Feb. 13 meeting, Kurek and Hapgood sparred politely over the frequency and seriousness of violations and whether Palermo has done enough to track down offenders. Main complaints are Palermo residents’ refusal to use proper bags or pay fees. They have also been charged with lending their transfer station identification cards to people from other towns.

Kurek said Palermo officials track down reported violators. Hapgood said she and other China staff spend time chasing Palermo residents.

No one denied that China residents, too, sometimes violate transfer station rules and are rude to staff. Committee member James Hines suggested charging individuals with theft of services, instead of pursuing an issue between the two towns.

Are your stickers uncooperative?

China residents, is your new transfer station sticker on the bottom right corner of your windshield uncooperative? Wrinkles, crinkles, falls off?

You’re not alone.

At the Feb. 13 transfer station committee meeting, Director of Public Services Shawn Reed said he had the same problem, despite carefully following the instructions town office staff offered when he bought the sticker.

Reed said he ended up taping the sticker to a piece of cardboard and standing it in the correct corner. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said it’s okay to tape the sticker to the inside of the windshield, too.

Committee members suggested finding a new vendor who sells higher-quality stickers – if they don’t cost too much more.

Hapgood said she, Kurek and the two town attorneys have a meeting scheduled later this month.

The transfer station five-year plan for maintenance and improvements and the 2024-25 budget were the other main discussion topics.

Three items have been taken care of. Transfer station staffer Cheyenne “Cj” Houle said the new cover on the pre-crusher is installed and satisfactory (and paid for, Hapgood added). A recent $20,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will improve the composting area and fund the soon to be installed solar-powered lights in the free for the taking building.

Committee chairman Christopher Baumann recommended more publicity for the information that not everything can be left at the free for the taking building without paying the fee that is charged for furniture, computers and electronics and other items.

Transfer station users are charged for items for which the town pays disposal fees, regardless of how saleable they appear. Things that can be recycled or otherwise gotten rid of for free, like books and glassware, can be left without charge.

Hapgood suggested people use another alternative, especially for unneeded furniture: leave it at the end of the driveway with a “Free” sign.

Water quality remains an ongoing transfer station issue. Houle and Director of Public Services Shawn Reed said the well water has an unpleasant odor.

Reed explained that the well was drilled through ancient trash, because no one realized the landfill originally started at Alder Park Road, before moving north to create the now-capped trash mountain.

The water had been tested and ruled safe to drink, but last fall, DEP testing found PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination. Further information on remedies is pending.

Staff members wash their hands and clean equipment with the well water; they do not drink it.

Baumann described the transfer station staff as very professional and very polite and said the facility is well run. Kurek called it an asset to China.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 12.

China awarded waste diversion grant for transfer station

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by Mary Grow

China has been awarded a $$14,440.57 state Waste Diversion Grant for improvements at the transfer station.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said the bulk of the money is to be used in the compost area, expanding the compost pad and adding bins. The rest will cover installation of solar lights in the free for the taking building.

Hapgood commended transfer station staff member Chayenne “Cj” Houle for putting “a lot of time and effort” into the grant application.

Houle said China will add $4,820 in local funds, for a total project cost of $19,260.57. The work must be finished by Dec. 1, 2024; Houle said she intends to begin immediately collecting information on building permits, materials and state requirements and expectations.

Mark A. King, Organics Management Specialist in the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Materials Management, sent Houle notice of the award on Dec. 5. He wrote that of 11 applicants, seven, including China, received all they had requested and three others received partial funding.

China transfer committee reviews 5-year plan

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by Mary Grow

At their Oct. 17 meeting, China transfer station committee members reviewed the five-year plan for the facility and talked about relations with neighbors Palermo and Albion.

The plan includes repairs and replacements and a few minor additions, like a storage area for propane tanks and the previously-discussed lighting for the free for the taking building (both scheduled for 2024).

A main topic was what to do with the elderly skid-steer. Opinion leaned toward replacing it with a tractor, not another skid-steer; committee members listed things a tractor could do, for the transfer station and the public works department, that a skid-steer cannot do.

Director of Public Services Shawn Reed offered to look into prices of different-sized tractors.

Staff intends to do more checking on options and costs for other pieces of equipment that need repair or perhaps replacement. They are also investigating state grants.

Committee members considered investing in another storage building so transfer station staff can keep more recyclables, waiting for fluctuating prices to rise. They made no recommendation.

Palermo committee member Robert Kurek and China town manager Rebecca Hapgood sparred, again, over the new transfer station identification system scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2024. Vehicles entering the facility will need a sticker on the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag with the vehicle license plate on the sticker.

The goal of adding the sticker identified with the vehicle is to eliminate Palermo and China residents’ habit of lending their RFID tags to out-of-towners who do not help fund the transfer station.

Hapgood plans to charge $2 a sticker. Kurek insists the China-Palermo contract says Palermo residents pay no new fees. The contract took effect Jan. 1, 2017, and runs for 17 years, a term Kurek said China officials chose to match their contract with the now-closed Hampden disposal facility.

Under the contract, Palermo pays China an $18,000 yearly fee, and Palermo residents pay for and use special colored trash bags. The bag price has been adjusted, and there is a formula for future adjustments.

Hapgood said China’s town attorney called the contract “one of the worst contracts she’s ever seen.” Committee chairman Paul Lucas called it “ridiculous.”

Hapgood’s suggested alternative to a sticker fee was to have each Palermo vehicle stopped at the entrance and checked to make sure it was entitled to enter. Lucas asked how the cost of the additional labor would compare to the cost of giving Palermo residents free stickers.

The discussion ended inconclusively. Hapgood intends another discussion with China select board members, and she and Kurek exchanged assurances that they’re still friends.

Transfer station manager Thomas Maraggio and Hapgood said fewer transfer station users are being rude to employees, though there are still instances Hapgood investigates.

Maraggio said the new agreement with Albion is working well. Albion residents are now allowed to bring some of the items excluded from the town’s curb-side pick-up to China, for a fee.

Hapgood reported China has hired a new town employee, who will work for both the transfer station and the public works department. The position was in this year’s budget, she said, especially to provide an additional plow driver so staff will be less exhausted by snowstorms.

The next China transfer station committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.

China transfer station committee reconsiders utility vehicle recommendation

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by Mary Grow

Members of China’s transfer station committee are going to reconsider their recommendation that the town buy a Polaris Ranger 500 utility vehicle for transfer station staff use.

Since their March 7 action (see the March 9 issue of The Town Line, p. 3), they have new information and a new, higher price, according to an email from transfer station employee Cheyenne Houle.

Houle said the Ranger 500 has been replaced by a Ranger 570. The 570 has most features committee members valued in the 500, like a roll cage and lights; Houle wrote that it adds a dump body and has higher ground clearance. Also, she said, recommended time between services has been increased.

The price she brought to the March 7 committee meeting was $10,699. The new price is $900 higher, she said.

Houle is seeking updated prices from two other suppliers. She plans to have information by the next committee meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 11.

China transfer station committee reviews five-year plan

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by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members went over the five-year plan for the facility at their Dec. 20 meeting, planning to collect price estimates and present the select board with a prioritized list during 2023-24 budget discussions in January and February.

Items on the current list include:

  • A new metal waste container, so that mattresses can be stored in what transfer station supervisor Thomas Maraggio described as a “shaky” old one and the new one used for heavier items. The goal is to keep mattresses from getting soaked in rain and snow before they’re shipped off for disposal – a high priority for committee chair Paul Lucas, because, he said, adding water triples the shipping cost. Maraggio said he has one bid and is waiting for more.
  • A cover for the new pre-crusher – Maraggio is seeking prices.
  • A water filter, so that transfer station employees will not have to put up with water that Director of Public Services Shawn Reed called “unfriendly:” not dangerous, according to test results, but with a bad smell from contaminants from the closed landfill close by.
  • Power and lights for the free for the taking building, a proposal building manager Karen Hatch enthusiastically supported. Palermo committee member Chris Diesch suggested solar power; Maraggio said he will check into possible grants.
  • Trading in the golf cart, which Maraggio said is unusable in winter, for a Gator utility vehicle.
  • Removal of the wind-damaged canopy at the recycling center.
  • A cement pad for compost, a spring project, also possibly grant-eligible.
  • Paving the road behind the recycling building so trucks can load more easily – perhaps to be done in conjunction with 2023 road paving.
  • Repainting crosswalks, another project that could be correlated with the town’s summer work.
  • Some kind of space for propane tank storage; another spring project, perhaps merely a fence, Maraggio suggested.

Farther in the future, Reed said, are a decision on whether to buy a new skid-steer or keep the old one running; and replacement of the main mixed waste hopper.

In addition to local needs, the other major topic Dec. 20 was the new state law that requires manufacturers to pay for disposal costs for some packaging, called the Extended Producer Responsibility law. Several of the group had attended an explanatory Department of Environmental Protection meeting.

Palermo committee member Robert Kurek said the idea of the law is to reimburse towns that opt into the program for recycling. However, he said, state officials haven’t yet decided what packaging materials are covered.

Lucas added that the initial state reporting forms will have to be reduced, because staff don’t have time to keep the records they would require.

There’s no big rush, he said; currently, reporting is scheduled for 2026 with the first
reimbursements in January 2027.

“We’ll keep our eye on it, and we’ll figure it out when the time comes,” he concluded.

In other business, Diesch had analyzed data from the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that reads transfer station users’ tags and presented summaries showing busiest and least busy days and hours and other useful information.

A short discussion of abandoning the RFID tags and going back to stickers on vehicles led to postponing a decision.

Review of China’s solid waste ordinances was also postponed. Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said any recommended ordinance changes need to go to the select board in March 2023 to get on the warrant for the June town business meeting.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the town office meeting room.

China transfer station committee debates use of RFID tags

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by Mary Grow

China Transfer Station Committee members spent much of their Nov. 15 meeting talking about whether to continue using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to separate China and Palermo residents from out-of-town users, or to go back to stickers on vehicles.

The RFID system was started with state grant funding in 2019. The main purpose was to track recycling.

The current system is that a resident gets one free RFID tag and can buy as many more as needed for family or business vehicles, for $10 each. People who move out of town in theory return their tags; that doesn’t always happen, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood said.

In addition to identifying users as entitled and showing where each vehicle stops inside the transfer station grounds, the system provides statistics on such things as busiest and least busy times and how often the same tag comes in.

To protect personal privacy, tags are not associated with tag-holders’ names for these purposes. As a result, transfer station attendants know for sure that someone with a tag is a resident only when they recognize the person.

Onsite transfer station supervisor Tom Maraggio asked if town office staff could notify transfer station staff when someone moves away. With about 200 deeds being processed every month, Hapgood said, staff members don’t have time.

Her main problems, with which committee members sympathized, are that people move away and continue to use the China transfer station, and residents lend RFID tags to non-residents. China taxpayers therefore end up paying to get rid of out-of-town waste; they’re getting “gypped”, in committee chairman Paul Lucas’ opinion.

“The problem is we’ve lost control over who can use the transfer station,” Palermo representative Robert Kurek summarized.

Chris Diesch, Palermo’s other representative, asked how big the problem is. Her question led to discussion of ways to give attendants limited access to the town office list connecting tags with people, so they could do random checks.

Committee members cited three objections to going back to stickers. Some people object to putting stickers on their vehicles; changing the system again so soon would make town officials look silly, in Kurek’s opinion; and Maraggio said depending on where they’re affixed, stickers are often harder for attendants to see than an RFID tag dangling from the rearview mirror.

The discussion ended with Diesch, a computer expert, and Lucas agreeing to meet and see what additional uses they can make of the RFID system.

The problem of improper disposal also plagues the Free for the Taking building, building manager Karen Hatch said. Intended as a swap shop where people can leave usable household items they no longer need, it too often acquires unusable items, including furniture and other bulky items for which the transfer station charges fees.

Discussion led to consensus that people leaving such items – the list is on the China website, www.china.govoffice.com, and posted at the transfer station – should pay the fees, even if the items go into the Free for the Taking area. If the previous owner is still on the premises when someone else claims an item, the fee might be refunded.

Transfer station staff pointed out that with winter coming, items too large to be displayed inside the building will have to be rejected anyway.

Lucas repeatedly returned to a suggestion made at earlier meetings that a guard shack be installed at the transfer station gate, where an attendant could direct people to proper disposal areas and collect fees as needed. No one else followed up.

In other business, Maraggio and Director of Public Services Shawn Reed proposed a custom-made liftable metal cover for the pre-crusher.

Reed said the new loader, to be shared by public works and transfer station crews, is here. He hopes the snow-pusher attachment will arrive in a week or so.

Maraggio plans to update the transfer station five-year plan. Briefly-mentioned potential recommendations include replacing the mixed waste hopper, which Reed said has been repeatedly repaired; buying a closed container to store mattresses, of which Maraggio said he gets about 10 a week; and installing a proper lighting system in the Free for the Taking building.

Maraggio said work is going smoothly at the moment. Each transfer station employee has a specialty, but all are cross-trained and able to assist each other. Relocating a cardboard bin near the mixed waste hopper has improved traffic flow.

Hapgood reported receiving many compliments on Maraggio’s Halloween decorations at the station entrance.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20, in the town office meeting room.

China town office, transfer station closed Nov. 24-25

The China town office and transfer station will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Saturday, Nov. 26, both will be open as usual, the town office from 8 to 11 a.m. and the transfer station from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

New fee on brush at China transfer station

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by Mary Grow

Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 15, people disposing of brush at the China transfer station will be charged a fee of two cents a pound. Vehicles carrying brush will enter and leave over the scale so the weight can be measured.

Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood explained at the Oct. 24 select board meeting that China used to get rid of its brush for free: a company would chip it and haul away the chips to sell. This year, she said, because of changing economics, the company charged a $4,000 fee.

By combining China’s and Vassalboro’s brush piles, China’s charge was halved, to $2,000 – still more than she appreciated paying, Hapgood said.

Now that disposal costs the town money, select board members voted unanimously to pass the cost on to transfer station users.

Hapgood said experiments in anticipation of the new fee showed most people will pay between two and five dollars.