The Dump

One of my constituents, Jim, sent me this email...

The important question is: Will privatizing the dump operation save the Falmouth overburdened taxpayers money? If so then it should be done regardless if it's unpopular with the small, loud minority who attend the meetings. If it saves money, do it. When the request for quote is written, include wording that will assure current employees of a job with whomever wins the bid. I think this is the REAL ISSUE, job security and not the barrel size, etc.

Regarding the size of barrels to be used if the curb pickup is Privatized too. What's wrong with the 96 gallon barrel? I've brought that size out to the curb at my daughter's home in Westborough, MA. You wheel them out, they were picked up by Tidytown and then you wheel the empty barrel back to the house, no big deal. In fact, it's much easier pushing or pulling the larger wheeled barrel than carrying loaded, smaller barrels that often require more than one trip to the curb. Someone should bring one the 96 gallon barrels to a meeting and show the naysayers how it will be easier.

Also, I've never seen nor was I aware that the town picked up appliances at the curb. I thought it was the homeowners responsibility to do that, either themself or hire someone in the classified section of the paper or yellow pages to do it. That won't change will it? Just get it to the dump, no matter who is running it. I feel a big deal is being made over nothing. Instead of fighting the issue, if it saves money, figure out how to best do it. Other municipalities do, Why can't Falmouth? It means change and there is a faction in town that doesn't want to change anything. It's time to get away from that and move ahead, if that's possible in this town.

Jim raised several issues here, so let's tackle them one by one:

1) "Will privatizing the dump operation save the Falmouth overburdened taxpayers money?"

Frankly, I'm not sure, but based on what I do know so far, it won't. Consider...

a) ...the town hired some consultants a few years ago to examine this possibility. They reported that privatization would increase costs to the taxpayer by 12 to 20 percent.

b) ...according to the members of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, the operating loss at the dump has fallen from about $300,000 to $75,000 over the past several years. Given that this is falling, something must be working. Just by itself, "staying the course" might result in no deficit within 1-2 years and making significant changes might result in a profit.

c) ...Falmouth has a grandfathered construction and demolition (C&D) permit which is a potential gold mine for the town. Reducing the cost of accepting C&D (an idea proposed by Ernie Santos, the crew lead at the dump) would make us more attractive to contractors than Bourne, which is further away and apparently dangerous to tires (nails). At the current prices, contractors are discouraged from bringing C&D to Falmouth, which many believe is the key to profitability if the dump were privatized. This might be the significant change we need.

Others (Jayne, thank you for your call) have suggested "pay as you throw" for those folks brining household trash to the dump. Other than recyclables, the collection of household trash is the ONLY duplication of service. Everything else - C&D, mattresses, furniture, TVs, tires, propane tanks, appliances, metals, oil, anti-freeze, mercury, batteries - can only be disposed of properly at the dump.

The oft-repeated statement that the curbside pick-up and the dump are redundant is - frankly - a load of $#%*.

d) ...DPW Superintendent Ray Jack's answer to a question posed by Solid Waste Advisory Committee member and Precinct 6 town meeting representative Dan Shearer. Dan asked, "Can you make the dump turn a profit, or at least break even?"

Mr. Jack's answer was without hesitation, "In a heartbeat."

His unflinching answer leads me to believe that privatization is not his idea. The $64,000 question is, "If Mr. Jack can make the dump turn a profit, why won't his superiors let him?"

Mr. Jack's only superiors are the town manager and Board of Selectmen. I can tell you that the selectmen have not - at least during the past 12 months that I've been in office - made any policy decisions about the dump. So the logical conclusion is that if Mr. Jack's hands are being tied, then it is either by the town manager, or rogue selectmen (rogue because they would be acting outside the authority of the quorum).

Jim, I agree with your sentiment, "If it saves money, do it." From my perspective, we can save money without privatizing, but we need to let our employees do their jobs instead of letting politics get in the way.

2) "What's wrong with the 96 gallon barrel?"

Nothing, from my point of view, and I agree that it's easier to manage than a 33-gallon barrel without wheels.

However, during the first public meeting, someone grabbed a 96-gallon recycling bin from down the hall and wheeled it into the selectmen's meeting room. It is big enough to fit a person, and I can see why some folks (small or elderly) may have a problem getting them to the curb.

The Solid Waste Advisory Committee recommended adding smaller bins and a manual option (i.e., the way it's done now) to the curbside collection RFP. I like this idea. If manual collection is cheaper, the taxpayer benefits. If semi-automatic or automatic is cheaper, then we will get a better feel for the savings over and above the current method as well as smaller bins for those smaller people.

3) "I've never seen nor was I aware that the town picked up appliances at the curb. I thought it was the homeowners responsibility to do that, either themself or hire someone in the classified section of the paper or yellow pages to do it. That won't change will it?"

Right now, the town does not offer curbside pick up of large items such as appliances or furniture. That is one reason we have the dump. As the RFP is currently written, it is possible that the collection of appliances or furniture would replace the dump as the method of disposal, but that has its own issues. For example, do we want appliances and furniture lying by the sides of our roads?


I agree with your sentiment that, "there is a faction in town that doesn't want to change anything. It's time to get away from that and move ahead..." But change for the sake of change accomplishes nothing. I think you'll agree that any change has to benefit the taxpayer. So far, I'm not inclined to privatize the dump, because I can see nothing positive about the idea.

There is very little duplication; the C&D permit is not being used to our advantage; our employees - who know more about this subject than anyone - appear to have their hands tied; the operating "loss" is dwindling; consultants have told us that privatization would cost more. Privatization just doesn't add up.

I hope this answers your questions, Jim.