Henry Raymond
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: roadrnnr on July 30, 2016, 06:03:53 PM
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Is anybody upset about having to drag these huge things up to the main road? We live on a dirt road that is away's from the main road. I use to bring my trash up to the road in my 4 wheeler but these things are not going to fit in it. What about the elderly who will have to do this?
So we are paying an extra $225 on top of what we allready paid for what. To do most of cassellas work for them so they don't have to get out of the truck.
This is BS and I am surprised more people are not POff!
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Hi roadrnnr, I plan to call Casella to ask for a 64G trash cart. You can call to request smaller size carts: 651-5400 and anyone in town can request smaller sizes in either trash or recycling. 96G Trash is too big for our garage, and we don't come close to filling our 64G every week. No way we need that big a trash cart. We want the 96G recycling-we have several overflowing blue recycling bins out each week now so that size makes sense.
It's my understanding that the carts are made so they can be collected by the same dual-compartment side loading packer trucks, but I'm pretty sure they can be any size cart. Those automated arm trucks only need one driver usually, and that one truck has 2 compartments for both trash and recycling, so it does the whole route. One less driver, one less heavy fume-emitting truck on my road, one less time my dog barks when they come on Thursdays.
What are you referring to about with the 'extra $225'? Are we being charged separately for the carts?
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On your recent tax bill there is a $225 trash Surcharge per household.
The whole point is this type of pickup does not work in a country setting. As far as I know this was never laid out in the proposal we voted on. Even the 96 gallon containers are to big to lug up to the main road when you live an several thousand feet from the main road. Our road also has no level ground or space to line up all our 4 houses carts the way they want them placed. The driver is getting out of the truck at our stop no ands.ifs.or buts, period. I imagine it will be this way at most stops.
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We have not yet received bins. Are they still distributing them or did they forget us?!
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Logical, I think they were going to be distributed this week or next. I received a letter last week.
It wasn't clear, however, about the limits. Are we still limited to one large trash bag? Or are we now allowed to fill up the trash can? Does everything still need to be bagged up? For instance- I bought a water heater and had very large pieces of styrofoam to dispose of. It would be much easier to simply throw them into the bin loose.
I agree though roadrnnr- While I personally welcome this change, having only to roll them 108 feet, I suspect a majority of residents won't have the same fondness.
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I like the bins, but I agree that this is just another time when someone didn't ask enough questions when signing a contract and now we find out that minor details matter. I'm not against this but it's a little confusing since I thought recycling was unlimited and don't they just crush recycling, why do I have to break things down? What will happen at Christmas time?
I'd question if the vendor had permission to make this change and if they did, who approved it.
I don't believe we are paying "extra". They just pulled out the amount of taxes for this and made it an additional line item on the tax bill as far as I knew. If that's not true, who knows.
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It will be a challenge for the many private road residents to move the bins to an area for pick up. One will need a truck to move them to the area and two people to load them in them in the truck. Not well thought out for sure and it reminds me of an analogy that " a camel is a horse designed by a committee" . I observed this a great deal while in Montpelier!
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Yes, that is exactly true. If you live on a private road we already have to bring trash/recycling up to the main road. Which we are used to. But having to truck 2 big barrels each week will be a big change and for some a big challenge. Interestingly we have not received any letter which was referenced so I have no idea what is going on! I have noticed many on the main road near us with the new barrels.
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We called and asked for the smaller (30ish gal) barrels which they delivered to us last week. They are still a lot bigger than the one we have had for over 30yrs. We have our new barrels to the curb today hopefully facing the correct way! Not sure where we will put them in the winter time with the snow banks. Also they did not roll well in our crushed stone driveway.
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Hello All,
You should check with Stacy Wells, the Selectboard Assistant, to see if the private road address where you reside, can be utilized by Cassella, to pick up your trash at your driveway entrance. I understand that this
activity is ongoing in Fairfax. Hope this helps you.
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Hi all. This is causing a dilemma for me, as I am a senior and
Live back on a long driveway...very long. I can't roll those huge bins. So I'm going to get a metal
Small platform on wheels to hook to my mule . That's the only way
I can get the bins down. Anyone have such a trailer to sell???
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It looks like several homes are opting to simply leave the bins at the end of their driveways, lol.
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This is insane. I recognize this may not be an issue for those who live in town and have a short paved run to the curb. But that's not most of us.
Those of us with thousand-foot gravel driveways can't haul those huge things around even in the summer, much less the winter. And the people who live on smaller roads (over 100 of them listed!) will have to go further and leave their bins ..............well, I don't know. I guess they will just have to find a spot somewhere on land they don't own.
How big a spot? To put the two bins the way they specify in their letter, you need a flat, level spot (free of snow of course!) that is at least fifteen feet by nine feet, with no overhead lines or branches. For lots of us, this space simply does not exist.
The bins need to be "no more than 6' from edge of curb". Of course most of us don't have curbs, but if they mean the edge of the road then they are ordering us to put the bins where the snowbank is.
Assuming I even have a flat level spot big enough and in the right place, how do I handle my snowplowing? It usually happens when I'm not around to help. Are all the snowplowing guys in town going to get out of their trucks, move the bins out of the way, plow the spot for the bins and then put them back? I don't think so. And even if they are willing, should I have to pay the additional cost?
Everyone with long driveways will have to leave the bins in place all the time, so all of us that live in Fairfax will have to get used seeing to those two big ugly plastic boxes hanging out at the end of everyone's driveways all the time, forever. Not just on pickup day, but ALL THE TIME.
Casella is investing lots of money in this switch, and it obviously wasn't decided last week. When we voted last spring on how to handle our trash, was this change already planned? Seems likely. Did Casella tell the select board (or anyone else) about it? If not, why not? And if so, why did our select board not mention it to us in preparation for the vote? Or at least recognize the fundamental stupidity of this approach?
And why isn't someone from Casella contributing to this discussion?
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like this has been forced on us. We voted just a few months ago about how to handle the trash and weren't told about this change, so we didn't know what we were choosing. I don't see any reason why we should passively accept this.
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Call Casella and they will swap you out with smaller ones. Which is totally your option.
Complaining about it on here does you no good folks. Take action and call them. Mrs. Freddie gave the number up above.
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Well, maybe it seems like "complaining to you". I didn't intend it that way. I thought I was pointing out that this is a unilateral action, that we were not consulted, that it appears Casella was planning this change when we voted last spring but kept it from us, and that as customers we shouldn't be expected to just take this kind of treatment.
Sure, I could ask for smaller containers, and that would work for the modest amount of trash we generate. Will they have bigger wheels so they roll on gravel? Will that mean I don't have to maintain a large plowed space for them? Will they fit in my car like the old ones? Will that remove the eyesore of thousands of them sitting next to our roads all the time? Will they even be significantly lighter than the smaller ones once they have trash in them?
No. Smaller containers don't fix the fundamental issue.
Pointing out that we have been deceived and treated unfairly isn't "complaining". It could be called "taking action", since anything that only one person does will never change what Casella does. It would take a group of us.
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I am surprised that everyone seems to be caught off guard by the new containers. I am certain these were discussed either at the town meeting or one of the trash meetings and that it was put out at that time that we would be transitioning to these.
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I am surprised that everyone seems to be caught off guard by the new containers. I am certain these were discussed either at the town meeting or one of the trash meetings and that it was put out at that time that we would be transitioning to these.
If that's the case then I'm wrong and should just shut up.
But it sure sounds like most people were caught by surprise.
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It was discussed Correct and the number one reason is the accountability of how much trash is allowed per new state regulations. See links below and I also copied the info from one of the trash posts on the Towns Site which was discussed at meetings as well.
So yes, this is the ACTION we have to take due to State Regulations. I personally have had a "Toter" for YEARS so animals would not get into my trash and I would not lose my cover and have been able to get it down my driveway in the snow. When I did not have a Breezeway or a garage to put them in they sat outside near my house until Wednesday.
I think everyone should take a deep breathe and please point your frustration at the State and not the town as if we do not follow the new regulations on us, the fines would be added to us as taxpayers.
Thanks for listening! And I hope everyone has a SUPER day and can keep cool with this crazy heat!
http://www.fairfax-vt.gov/trash (http://www.fairfax-vt.gov/trash)
Trash & Recycling Home Page
Curb-side collection of residential Trash & Recycling, in the Town of Fairfax, is funded through property taxes. The Town of Fairfax currently has a contract for this service through Casella Resource Solutions.
Collection days are Wednesday and Thursday of each week. You can view the collection schedule map to find out when your trash & recycling will be collected.
The State of VT has enacted Act 148 which mandates variable rate pricing. What this means to Fairfax residents, is that you can no longer put out unlimited amounts of trash to be collected weekly.
Each household is permitted to fill one (1) curbside collection cart (provided by Casella) with Trash. A Recycling curbside collection card will also be provided, however Recycling is not limited, as the goal of this restriction is to decrease the amount of recyclable materials going into the landfill.
Residents will be required to purchase a sticker for each 30 gallon bag that will not fit into the provided curbside collection cart. These stickers may be purchased at Town Hall for $2.50 each.
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Thanks MKR for the clarification, I thought maybe I was losing my mind
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Yes, there are new regs from the state. Thanks for posting that info.
But that's not what we are talking about. We're talking about one trash hauler who has decided to reduce their labor costs by providing a lower level of service. This is fine, and understandable, but they should have told us when we were deciding last spring to give them the monopoly contract for Fairfax. It appears they didn't. That's the issue -- that they are changing the terms of our agreement after the fact.
Their decision to go to the new system is separate from the state limit on how much we throw away. The state didn't mandate the new collection system. In fact, we could have voted for the other trash option (join the district like all of our neighboring towns) and we wouldn't have been forced to handle our trash this way. So obviously there was at least one other option that would have met state regs. We voted to continue the way we have been doing it. But this isn't the way we have been doing it. That vote might have been different if everyone had known the changes Casella was planning.
For example, when we voted, no one mentioned that we would have to maintain a 9 ft by 15 ft level plowed area within six feet of the road with no overhead obstacles. Or at least that's my impression. I could be wrong. Does anyone out there have any record of this information being provided before we decided to hire them?
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So RIGHT, Norton! How ugly it is to see these every day. They make Fairfax look like a Trash Town.
Someone or persons made the Wrong decision about this!
People looking to buy real estate here will turn around. It will have an impact on property sales.
We need a citizens group to deal with this. I would join.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a flat trailer to hitch to my mule to transport up my 1000 ft driveway.
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Hey folks, as mkr stated and included all the links and information regarding trash if Fairfax, this was all discussed and voted on on Town Meeting Day in March. A rep from the NWSWD attended both special town meetings to relay the services they'd provide if Fairfax finally joined a Solid Waste District, like the rest of the State (minus a few). Residents stated they did not want their curbside service disturbed and the Town out-voted joining the NWSWD, which would have moved ALL ACT148 responsibilities, laws and regulations onto the District, and off of the Town of Fairfax.
Casella is our chosen, voted upon by all of you, entity handling Act 148 BUT the State still says it's the Town who will be the entity in violation, should any happen. That should remain on everyone's mind as they're dumping stuff into their 96G trash toters...we have to reduce trash AS A WHOLE TOWN to be in compliance with the State, not just Casella sending in our annual reports for the State on time. That's the biggest threat, in my opinion, to increase everyone's recycling and eventually food scrap diversion to get our trash disposal tons way, way down. Casella can only do so much, then it's up to residents to take advantage of Casella's Act 148 resources and get their trash rates down. Casella is not on the hook for that part of Act 148 compliance with the State law. Please understand I work with state and local waste management compliance as CSWD's Enforcement Coordinator, and know this to be fact, not speculation. I'm happy to post my confirmation of such facts from reps at the State of Vermont ANR.
I know everyone in Town had time and an audience with the SB to provide their feedback and input leading up to current day's trash situation. There were Fairfax Select Board meetings after Town Meeting Day where the contract was discussed, and I don't believe residents saw the contract as signed by the SB when it was finalized, so I'm not sure where the deception on Casella's part comes in. I'm recycling, back-yard composting, and reducing our household trash as to do our part to comply with Act 148, which is ultimately NOT out to screw anyone, but to keep trash out of our ONE landfill left in this state. People see this as a negative thing, but it's not, it's now the law because the state tried to get better recycling rates without mandates, and that did not work. Now it's a matter of 'where do we put all the crap you throw away, most of which is recycling'? Most other cities/towns in the State have their local Solid Waste District's doing this work, and those Districts are on the hook to get their members trash tons down. We are responsible for this part of the law, and I'm afraid that's not publicized enough. Complaining about it will not change the fact that it's state law now to recycle and to divert all food waste from your trash can by 2020. It is what it is, folks. It's not Marshall law on trash as people elude to .
The carts were discussed way back at the Special Meeting in February, and those concerned brought these issues of cart size and cost up to the Casella staff present. The vote was to determine if residents wanted to hand over their Town trash compliance to be managed by Casella, which we did, so that's what they're doing. Again, flyers went out and meetings were held regarding details of the Casella contract...it's all public record so feel free to either call Casella, or the State of Vermont's ANR. I was at a SB meeting where they discussed the cart size, frequency of collection at the curb, and eventual phase-in of food scrap collection at the curb. Anyone could have attended this and other SB meetings, contacted the SB or Casella directly.
It's really tough to read that after all the drama of this trash contract, and residents feeling so strongly about keeping town subsidized service, that now we have it, and people are complaining about the carts, saying Casella is somehow screwing us, or just general ignorance to the Act 148 laws that a lot of folks explained prior to the vote very well on this site, and not just me. If you voted Yes on Article 3, then you signed up for this, in whatever capacity the SB, in collaboration with Casella, decides is best for our Town. Again, complaints should be directed to Casella, or the SB directly, as mkr reiterated. Contract is signed and active for the next 4 years, as was decided by your YES on Article 3 vote back in March.
If your carts are an issue, a concern or a hassle, then come together to form some kind of solution, and be adults and propose one to the SB and Casella. What is going to work? What about the carts are a problem? Size? Wheels? I encourage people to form a group, not to complain, but to form a collectively agreed upon solution for your cart issues to bring to the powers that be. Get something done, not contribute to the negative discussion to beat this, unproductively, to death.
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The Selectboard had already made the decision to use Casella before we voted on a non binding vote.
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Well said Mrs. Freddie
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As of today, Casella is not using side loading trucks, they still have to get out and move the bins behind the truck to use the lift. Don't know when (or if) they will get a side loader. Until they do, I don't think they care about the placement of the bins. In fact they routinely put the first one emptied right next to the other bin even if I've placed them 3' apart.
And yes this solution is much more easily implemented "in town" where people have short driveways, more likely paved than those at homes outside of town and flat areas at the curb. Well before the first snow flew one of the guys on the truck told me the carts don't roll in snow, the wheels just get packed in. I carry mine (I asked for 32 gallon, they do not roll on the stones that lead up to the porch and even they are cumbersome to carry) from the enclosed porch to the NOT curb and try to find somewhere fairly level to place them. Not easy as every time Nichols Rd is graded and filled the road gets higher and the angle of my "driveway" gets steeper.
I'm guessing the people in the 8 houses on Upper Meadow Road swung a deal to pay Casella a bit extra to go up their private road because after about 3 weeks of various and sometimes amuzing methods being tried to get the cans down to the main road, the trucks started going up instead.
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Fairfax is now known as "Casellaville" as a result of all the containers strewn throughout the ,entire town. Very attractive indeed and so much more efficient lol
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Granted we see the big bins everywhere, but is it better to see trash strewn across driveways & the roads after critters have ripped bags apart? There are a few apartments on Main hill that still either do not have or are not using the bins & every Tues pm/ Wed am, the trash is stacked/strewn across the front of the building in the road. Just asking what looks better. I am fine with shoveling my bins out & walking up the drive to put them for pickup, recycle only goes up when 3/4 full, & then walking them back down. Look at it as our workout routine :-)