Board Defers Increase In Commercial Hauler Fee

CHATHAM – After the town’s two main commercial waste haulers said a proposal to nearly double disposal fees at the transfer station would put them out of business, the select board opted to defer the increase.

 The board referred the proposal to the town’s economic development committee on June 10 and suggested that a phased approach would be more equitable. A list of other proposed increases for disposal of a slate of items, such as demolition debris, sofas, tires and fire extinguishers, was also deferred.

 Currently, the town pays about $135 per ton to dispose of solid waste, but only collects about $90 per ton from haulers, resulting in a net loss of $45 per ton, according to Public Works Director Rob Faley. That creates an annual deficit of about $175,000 based on the 4,000 tons of solid waste that goes through the transfer station, he said.

 Faley proposed increasing the fee charged to commercial waste haulers from $90 per ton to $175 per ton, which he said would “level the playing field” with fees charged in other towns. Harwich, for instance, charges twice as much as Chatham, and Brewster does not accept commercial hauler waste.

 Nearly doubling the per-ton disposal fee will put his company out of business, said Graeme Milley of Milley Trucking. 

 “The fact is that no business can ever absorb a 100 percent increase in cost,” he told the select board during a public hearing June 10. “It’s pure insanity.”

 The same applies to his business, said Ben Nickerson of Benjamin T. Nickerson, Inc. Both operators said they set their summer prices in March.

 “Being informed of this two weeks before the summer starts is unacceptable,” Nickerson said.

 Milley and Nickerson account for the bulk of the commercial trash coming into the transfer station. Both are locally owned businesses that have operated in Chatham for decades. Milley said the need to raise rates based on the increase will provide an opportunity for larger trash haulers from out of town, which use larger trucks and have no ties to the community, to undercut them. He said most of those larger firms dispose of rubbish in communities that charge less or haul it themselves to the Southeastern Massachusetts Resource Recovery Facility in Rochester, where the town also disposes of its solid waste.

 “We can just barely compete with regional trash haulers,” he said. “This will kill our business.”

The local haulers have worked to minimize disruption downtown, consolidating dumpsters and checking them daily to ensure that they don’t overflow. Regional firms would not do that, Milley said. Absorbing the increase would also force him to lay off a year-round employee, he added.

No increase is proposed for transfer station stickers, and residents who take their own rubbish to the transfer station also contribute to the total amount of solid waste. It isn’t fair to just increase fees for the commercial haulers, Milley said.

 “We shouldn’t be the only ones shouldering this increase,” Nickerson said.

More warning and a gradual increase would be more manageable, said Milley.

The goal, said Town Manager Jill Goldsmith, is for the town to cover its costs. “We’re not looking to make a profit,” she said, but there are staff and other operating costs associated with the transfer station that must be factored in along with the cost of waste disposal.

The town subsidizes other industries, chair Dean Nicastro noted, including spending millions on waterfront infrastructure and dredging to support commercial fishing and recreational boating and providing taxpayer funding to the chamber of commerce, which supports local businesses.

 “When you want to support the community, you have to consider subsidies,” he said. “We do that with other businesses in town; we do that with recreation, we do that with tourism.” He added that he wasn’t prepared to approve the new fees, which were slated to go into effect July 1. Board member Cory Metters agreed.

 “I would put a pause on this,” he said.

One of the board’s goals is to help sustain local small businesses, said select board member Shareen Davis. She suggested the issue be referred to the economic development committee for review, and that the trash haulers should be part of the discussion. The finance committee should also be involved, added board member Stuart Smith.

Vice chair Jeff Dykens wanted to know if allegations that much of the solid waste deposited at the transfer station comes from out of town were true. Both Nickerson and Milley said they have out-of-town customers, but most are related to Chatham in some way and only account for about 5 percent of the solid waste they haul. Faley said one small out-of-town trash hauler brings solid waste into the transfer station, but the amount is minimal. 

The board of health, which regulates solid waste disposal, is developing a form that waste haulers must sign that certify that the trash they are bringing into the transfer station is from Chatham, said chair Noble Hansen. The form may have to be adjusted based on the discussion, he added.

The board voted unanimously to refer the fee increases to the economic development committee and finance committee with the goal of gradually increasing them to cover the town’s costs. An Oct. 14 deadline was set for a recommendation.