Reader voices concerns with trash proposal

By Guest

Dear Editor:

I’m writing to express my thoughts on the trash/recycling changes that our selectmen are proposing. I mean no insult to our BOS, and I am in full support of recycling and do my part at home to support this effort. However, I and many others seem to be opposed to this new model.

I reviewed the educational material, and to be honest, it doesn’t provide a great deal of useful information. What I saw was a marketing video created by Republic Services that highlights problems that don’t really exist in Canton and benefits that seem to apply only to the company. I do not care what my neighbor’s trash cans look like, and I have never seen bags of trash piled up along the roads in this town. What I derived from the video was it allows Republic to reduce the number of workers per truck, thus reducing labor costs, increasing profits and eliminating jobs. I have nothing against companies making money, recycling or automation, but I am curious what happens to those jobs.

There are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered for the taxpayers. For example, what is the current and new cost of our existing services? What is the cost of the new proposed services? What’s the initial investment required and what is the expected return on investment? Is there an up-front cost to residents? I’ve already invested in expensive 64-gallon bins. What do I do with these? Etc.

Another point of consideration is this two-bin model may not be sufficient for all households. What do residents do if they have in-law additions that are still zoned as single-family homes supporting seven to 10-plus people? I know several people in Canton living under this model, including myself, and one trash bin a week will not be sufficient. Will we have the option to get more bins if needed (i.e. two of each bin for multi-family households)? The town of Burlington, referenced in the educational materials, still provides free pickup of bulk items. What is the plan for Canton?

This kind of information would help us understand the benefits/impact of this new model. All we’ve been told is it will save an “estimated” $130,000 a year. To keep our current model, what other areas of cost-cutting have been explored, or is an annual assessment an option? This may sound less than ideal, but with over 8,000 houses in Canton, we’re looking at under $20 per year per household to make up for these savings. You’ll pay more in “undetermined fees” to remove excess items.

I have yet to come across anyone who wants this new model or sees this as an improvement over our current service. Before a decision is made, the BOS should put this to a public poll so the residents can vote and we can see the results. This won’t happen, but I bet we’d find that many people do not want to make this change. Email them at bos@town.canton.ma.us to be heard.

Sincerely,

Kevin Martinek

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