Director of Public Works Janusz Czyzowski told the Council that he had wonderful news for them Monday night.
“Currently under the Solid Waste contract, we are spending $614,000 for trash collection and $72 per ton for trash disposal and trash recycling collection of $408,000 per year,” he said. “With this current contract, we have two options to extend to FY 15, and we will pay $583,000 for collection, $72 per ton for disposal and $440,000 for recycling. For FY 16 we will pay $598,000 for collection, $72 per ton for disposal and $450,000 for recycling. After much negotiation, we were able to lower that price, and for FY 14 we will get a $50,000 reduction by June 2014.”
He said that for FY 15 the collection cost would be reduced from $583,000 to $560,000 for a savings of $23,000. Trash disposal will go down from $72 per ton to $65 per ton for a savings of $7 per ton at an estimated tonnage of 8,600 tons, with a savings of $60,200. Recycling will cost $424,000, for a savings of $16,000.
For FY 16, trash collection will cost $580,000 for a savings of $18,000, trash disposal will be $65 per ton at 8,600 tons for a savings of $60,000, and recycling collection cost for FY 16 is $438,000, for a savings of $12,000, or a total of $90,000 in savings for FY 16. The total savings over FY 14 through 16 will be $239,400.
“We looked at disposal costs, and $65 per ton is an excellent price,” he said. “I checked with Derry and they pay $62 for a tipping fee plus $13 per ton to haul it to Haverhill (Mass.) Windham is now over $65 and it will go up to $71, and Hooksett pays $66 per ton and is increased every year. So $65 for the next two years is an excellent price and I strongly advise you to accept this.”
Czyzowski said he was very satisfied with the vendor and termed it a “wonderful” contract.
Councilor Tom Dolan asked that Town Manager Kevin Smith and Finance Director Susan Hickey see what can be done to leverage the savings in the Public Works department for the construction and road maintenance that are being considered.
Smith said the savings were included in the directive of the council at the last meeting to find money to be put back in several areas and the money has been put there.
Czyzowski said he was reducing the Solid Waste budget by $100,000.
Chairman John Farrell said the consensus of the board was that he should proceed with the contract.
In other business at the Dec. 2 meeting:
• Dolan raised the possibility of an amnesty day, where residents could bring heavy or overly large items to the foot of their driveway to be picked up by the town, rather than having people dump such items by the side of the road or in the woods.
“It doesn’t have to be every year, and it would help residents with large and heavy items,” Dolan said.
Farrell said they should take a look at it and see if there was a break-even point, and then charge a nominal fee for the service.
Czyzowski said his department would look into the matter.
• An amendment to ordinance #2011, Safety policy Title VI Chapter IV was introduced.
Smith said it was recognized that the inherent and dangerous work performed by the police and fire departments “will at times cause these particular town employees to operate outside the scope of some of the rules and procedures, and that language to that effect be added to the introduction of section 1.” He said he also added language to the introduction in paragraph four that says “the town itself and members of the public violations of any safety rule will be changed to “the town itself and members of the public who violate any safety rule.”
Section V wording to exclude the police department from exemption of information technology/ media and cell phone policies will now also include the fire department.
Section VI, disciplinary action, will change from “discipline pursuant to the applicable disciplinary and grievance procedure of the town” to “Applicable disciplinary and grievance procedure outlined in the employee’s collective bargaining agreement with the town.”
Police Chief William Hart said that effecting an arrest may include wrestling on the ground with somebody or more involved procedures that are dangerous. Firefighters rushing into a burning building raise similar issues.
The measure to accept the first reading to amend the language passed unanimously.
• Farrell noted that it was nice to have a fire chief who lives in town and thanked Fire Chief Darren O’Brien for responding to a motor vehicle accident over the weekend.
• O’Brien requested two vehicles for his department, a 2014 Ford Interceptor utility vehicle at a cost of $27,358 and a 2014 Ford F350 4X4 with a plow for $31,821.
“One of the vehicles (to be replaced) is a 23-year-old pick-up style chassis, which was the department’s first rescue vehicle and then became the forestry vehicle,” O’Brien said.
The other vehicle is now the chief’s vehicle, and he said both vehicles’ repair costs are more than their value.
The council voted unanimously to expend the monies for the new vehicles from the FY 14 Fire Department budget.