Select Board approves reopening plans, OKs trash and recycling contract
By Mike BergerThe Canton Select Board made two major decisions Tuesday night — moving ahead with plans to reopen Town Hall and all other municipal buildings on May 4 and approving new trash and recycling contracts with Republic Services, the town’s current waste management provider.
Republic will still continue its same duties with the major difference being that the company will bring recyclable materials to a Waste Management facility for processing. Collection routes will remain the same and there will be no interruption of service.
Regarding the opening of town buildings, Town Administrator Charlie Aspinwall said with 10,356 residents, or more than 40 percent, of the town’s residents receiving first vaccine doses and with Canton moving from the red (high risk) status back to yellow, he is comfortable recommending to the board the reopening of town buildings, provided that all visitors wear masks, practice social distancing, and provide their contact information. All town employees will return to the buildings as of May 4 as working remotely will no longer be an option. Aspinwall will draft more information on the opening for the public in the coming days. The library has already begun partial opening procedures with the lobby and periodical room now open to a maximum of 20 people at a time. Use of computers is also available by appointment.
Aspinwall said the threat of COVID-19 still looms with positive cases plateauing but with the brunt of new cases impacting residents aged 39 and younger.
The second major piece of news concerns the board’s approval of new trash and recycling contracts, which take effect on July 1.
Republic Services will be in charge of the collection of trash, disposal of trash, curbside recycling, Pine Street condominium trash collection, containers for the Pine Street recycling facility and town e-waste, and recycling of televisions and computers. Waste Management will be in charge of processing recyclable materials and the cost could be reduced if recyclables arrive cleaner. Dan Higgins of Republic Services said the company is elated to retain the town of Canton’s business and will work with the town and the Sustainability Committee to reduce the volume of trash by educating residents on materials reuse.
At the end of the three-year contract, the town will retain ownership of the residents’ carts.
Final costs of the contracts are not yet available, but Finance Director Randy Scollins voiced support for approving them …
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Apr 16 2021. Filed under News, Town Government.
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