Two weeks from Wednesday is the Special Town Meeting. Weather and attendance permitting.
There have been various posts and comments about Town Meeting. Pros and cons to to it. Its existentialist, make-up, open vs. representative.
As I have noted, I embrace the Town Meeting form of government. Part of the reasoning behind it is the appeal to the "legislative" branch concept. Its existence does provide some checks and balances to what can and cannot get done.
Some people feel it has outlived its usefulness. I have heard the arguments. I cannot dismiss out of hand some of the points against it. Neither though can I embrace the alternative to it. Mainly because not one has suggested a reasonable one for a community of this size (yes, I know that is just my opinion on the matter).
Anyway .. just a rambling thought on it I suppose.
Back to some garbage. Don't be surprised to see in the not too distant future proposals for some significant changes to garbage day. I won't spoil the surprises. I will say keep an open mind. One or two actually make sense, and will be beneficial all around (not just monetarily either, at least in my opinion).
Let's face it, garbage is a huge problem everywhere. So it is needs to be dealt with in a reasonable and rational manner. The sad part is most could care less about what is done with it as long as it gets picked up from the curbside.
Believe it or not, you don't have to travel too far in any direction to discover that that is not in fact a universal service in municipalities. Heck in Fairhaven we are talking what maybe a generation and 1/2 since curbside went town wide. I still remember growing up and being in a part of town where there was no curbside.
Anyone else remember the burning barrel?
All giving more cred to the old saying one man's trash is another man's treasurer. There is indeed gold in them there trash heaps folks.
Okay, not much of a blog today, especially after no blog yesterday. Another example of life being "it is what it is". Trash or treasure is based on your perspective.
Anyway ... out of time ... running late ... need to take my own trash out.
Be safe.
Curbside pick up is and has been a luxury. I thought pay-as-you-throw would entice illegal dumping, but we don't hear of that happening. One thing I think would be a positive to p-a-y-t, would be it might encourage those who don't recycle (look for the 'binless' curbs on recycle day,) to change their habits.
ReplyDeleteBringing this topic to the table should make residents seriously reprioritize town services. Sanitization has to be very close to the top of the list.
ReplyDeleteBin less curbs you say! they have alternate ways to get rid of recycle goods,its called the garbage bags.They could care less about recycle an know that the bags are not checked.Other homeowners have 10 bags in a two person house so it seems like they are taking in imports or hiding construction trash...Pay it by bag can stop this...
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad there wasn't an efficient way to access a fee to those who don't make an attempt to recycle.
DeleteTrash is a double edged sword. Both edges will only get sharper. Disposal space and methods are serious environmental concerns and cost is and will always be a factor.
ReplyDeleteHow many times does the town gets stabbed before they take away the swordsI"m just saying.Lets set up an enterprise fund an pay for what you throw out ,or is that to simple or illegal.Or will that just ruffle feathers of the birds who feel someone else should pay for their discharge..
ReplyDeletePAYT programs are operated as enterprise funds in other communities.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see, PAYT programs have increased recycling, decreased solid waste tonnage, and saved municipalities money. The people who throw away more, pay more, and that seems fair to me.
Of course there are some drawbacks, but nothing that could be overcome. It's been done successfully elsewhere, so it's not much harder than copying that blueprint and learning from any mistakes.
There's a wealth of info on the Massachusetts DEP website about PAYT:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/recycle/reduce/pay-as-you-throw-payt.html
One drawback is we pay for it fully as an enterprise, but no offset savings in the budget. Taxpayers take another hit.
DeleteI wonder if I ought to use paper plates to avoid the cost of water, or glass plates to avoid the cost of too many trash bags.
DeletePAYT funds should go to reduce the garbage pickup part of the budget,there is a savings here not a source of revenue.Fincom could pay special attention to the entry if the system makes it thru protocal by (town meeting).I am just saying....
ReplyDelete