Council urges residents to use automated trash cans starting July 6
Both systems will be available but manual will cost town
Posted Monday, June 29, 2009 - 9:32pm
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After the second emergency special meeting by the Town Council tonight (Monday) Mayor Adam Salina encouraged residents to use the newly-delivered automated trash cans for refuse pick-up beginning July 6.
Manual collection will continue through July 3. After that, residents may use their new cans for automated pick-up or use their old cans for manual pick-up. Trash-Away has agreed to use two trucks designated for leaf pick-up for the manual pick-up of refuse. The manual pick-up by Trash-Away will be billed on top of the contract the town has with the company for automated collection.
"Our original idea of the roll-off dumpsters was shot down," Mayor Adam Salina said after the meeting. "We were informed that having the dumpsters would have created an illegal transfer station and we would have been fined by the Department of Environmental Protection. Our insurance company also told us they were not willing to insure that idea and then there was still the idea of staffing the dumpsters.
"The police department then weighed in and told us that there were a lot of concerns with traffic hazards at the drop-off spots. At that point I asked Denise McNair to talk to Mr. Lombardo from Trash-Away. He informed us there was a provision in the contract for leaf pick-up and he would be able to handle the manual pick-up for a short time but that he would be billing the town for the additional service.
"There was no way I was going to jeopardize the public safety of this town."
The Council scheduled another special meeting for July 9. At that point, the council will open bids, if any are made, for refuse pick-up.
"Mr. Lombardo has already sent a letter to the town saying that he will not bid on manual pick-up," Salina said. "He was going to sell or do something different with his trucks.
"We would like everyone to try the automatic pick-up but they can choose not to. If they do that, the town will be billed by the hour by Trash-Away."
Comments :
Please try the automated service... you have nothing to lose
Submitted by Anon. (not verified) on Mon, 06/29/2009 - 9:40pm.This is a reasonable short-term solution, but short-term only. Hopefully the entire town will be willing to at least try the automated pickup and see that it is a viable and workable solution. If not, it's still going to cost the town a lot of extra money for the few who hold out for manual pickup and then there is still the potential legal mess of eventaully cancelling the automated contract. Let's all hope it really doesn't come to that...
I'll happily park my automated bin at curbside starting the week of July 6th. I hope everyone else will do the same. At least try it folks... you have nothing to lose by trying it but the town stands to lose substantially if you don't.
For those about to blame the
Submitted by Franklin (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 5:20am.For those about to blame the town council for 'subverting our will' and 'ignoring our vote', my comment is that this is the smartest thing they've done yet. I'm disappointed that they let this fiasco get this far, but at least they did what needed to be done. Aside from the constitutional issue of undoing an active contract, if 1,900 townspeople got together and voted to have the town immediately burn $500,000 of our money, I would like to hope they would have to find a way around that as well. The concept of voting to undo a contract entered into by the town over 3 months ago, AFTER the contractor has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipation of that contract... well, I'm fairly confident the proponents could not care about your trash and care even less about fiscal responsibility (the cost of the election alone is almost the difference in the contracts, let alone their postcard mailing). This was a political stunt at our expense - remember that when your taxes increase. Time to make sure any of the misguided proponents (who were lead by an attorney and should have known better) never make it anywhere near any town office.
Let's just hope some flash in the pan garbage company with horrible service and no experience doesn't show up and bid. At that point, the only smart thing for the town council to do is to count the hundreds of thousands of dollars we'd end up owing to Trash-Away for breach of contract as part of the 'cost' of a new contract.
And for all of you who can't fit the new bin in your trunk or who have a long driveway... is wasting our tax dollars for your own special weekly pickup the right solution? How about 2 of the smallest bins, those cost less than $500,000 right? Someone should make some little yard signs saying "We don't like paying for your trash" and distribute them to the homes not using their new cart this next week.
The Infinite Trash Loop...
Submitted by BerlinRes on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 10:24am.Why take such a circuitous route to get to the inevitable final decision? What's done is done. The Town signed a contract with Trash Away for automated curbside pickup. To unwind this contract would be very costly to the taxpayers (most likely in the high hundreds of thousands of dollars that should otherwise be spent on schools, town services, etc.). So, we have two choices: 1.) accept the automated contract with Trash Away, or 2.) look for an alternate manual pickup service that would cost more than the automated contract that is currently in place with Trash Away AND still have to pay Trash Away to break the contract. We can all acknowledge the results of the 6/23 referendum, but now things have changed. We're past the eleventh hour and we need to have a trash contract in place by the week of July 13th. We cannot have this constant "measuring" of town sentiment on the trash pickup issue by the Town Council. The first measurement was taken at at the vote on the budget, the second at the referendum of 6/23, the third will occur next week when they see how many people use the automated containers. The Town needs to make a final decision and put this thing to bed. Whatever side of the trash pickup issue you're on, I think we can all agree that the final decision needs to be made in the interest of fiscal responsibility.
Send the bill for the hourly
Submitted by Not-Happy (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 11:09am.Send the bill for the hourly manual Trash pickup to Argazzi. Hey Paul, your antics have proved time and time again just how childish you are. Get off your high horse and deal with the fact that you were VOTED OFF!. Move on, better yet, MOVE OUT!
Argazzi Lied and our great
Submitted by Shortmountain Man (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 1:25pm.Argazzi Lied and our great garbage service died. Remember in November!
Argazzi can keep the trash
Submitted by POEDinBER (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 2:31pm.Mr. Argazzi i hope you can see how disliked you are in this town. you are single handedly ruining the republican party in this town. it is time that you take your high school grudges of getting wedgies and made fun of and move to Maine or Vermont where they will cherish you (till they see what your really about). I hope little kids point at you in the stop and shop, or drinks get spilled on you at the next high school football game. It would be just as childish as your antics and a lot less costly. LEAVE OUR TOWN
Republic? or what?
Submitted by DJMRuby on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 4:18pm.The point of this entire issue, is our vote. Yes, it was the present Council that got us into this mess. They decided to make a major change in Berlin, and did not consider what the citizens of the town wanted. It starts off being about something as simple as 'trash', then what? We won't have a say on the next budget? We won't be wasting money on 'voting' on other issues?? Where does it end? It seems most people are missing the entire point
Embarrassing
Submitted by SMD (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 4:53pm.I respectfully disagree that the point is the vote. We have a vote - we elect a town council and the expectation is that they will do their best to make these sorts of decisions for the town. If people are dissatisfied with their efforts, we get to vote again and kick them out. But voting on something as mundane as how our trash gets picked up is ridiculous. What's next? A town-wide referendum on how often the snow plows have oil changes, so that the people's voices can be heard?
As an aside, the drama Paul Argazzi and his cohorts brought to this issue - "SAVE OUR TRASH!!" as if the world would come to an end if automated trash made its way to Berlin - is insane. Somehow numerous surrounding towns have managed to implement automated trash without widespread chaos ensuing.
Too late...
Submitted by Franklin (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 5:18pm.DJMRuby, where were you at the council meetings in February? Or the subsequent budget vote which included the contract? Why let them select a contract before demanding a vote? The town laws do NOT currently require a vote on the award of a contract of that type... why not an ordinance and referendum to require that? No, that doesn't create a mess for the current town council.
The big problem you're ignoring is that you will WASTE hundreds of thousands in damages trying to undo this decision. We're in the wrong if we try to break the contract and they've already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipation of the contract. You weren't happy with their decision to switch to automated? Vote them out next time. Until then, stop trying to make political points or throw tantrums at the expense of the rest of the taxpayers. You came to the table too late to undo an issue without bankrupting us, period.
Dose of Reality
Submitted by Ron (not verified) on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 9:48pm.Funny I don't remember the hue and cry over automated trash in February, March, April...only when it was considered politically expedient for the Republicans did it become a significant issue, and that's after scaring our senior citizens.
And correct me if I am wrong, but the charter states the budget must be approved by town vote, so no, that vote will not be taken away.
How many people voted for the budget? I will tell you: 848. Only 848 - 6.4% of eligible voters - voted on spending $66.5 million dollars. The automated trash contract was in that budget so essentially the voters approved spending that money on that contract.
The lesson to be learned here is we need to remember it is our obligation to be aware of the goings on in our town. It is our own fault if we don't take part in the process and we have no right complaining when things don't go the way we like.
Like others have said if you don't like the decisions our elected officials make then vote them out come November. This process has served our nation well since 1789.
Agree w/ Anon
Submitted by B (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 8:49am.I disagreed with the town council's original vote on the trash, I am a Yes voter, but those of us that are able to physically handle the large wheeled containers should use them next week. It will be costly and childish for us to put our manual trash containers out just to "show them", we are all in this together and it is our money that will be wasted. We need to show that we are not petty like the members of the council. The council’s original idea of using roll off dumpsters is an example of small mindedness, the only rational I can see for that idea was to punish the people for voting Yes. The most reasonable approach would have been to contact Trash Away first to find an interim solution since we already have a contract. Instead, they did it only when the State told them they could not pursue their original plan (another example the council not using forethought)
B... you must be
Submitted by Kensington Guy (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 9:35am.B... you must be confused...
"We need to show that we are not petty like the members of the council. The council’s original idea of using roll off dumpsters is an example of small mindedness, the only rational I can see for that idea was to punish the people for voting Yes"
No, as was stated directly at the council meeting, they're trying to honor the vote of the people. It's not small mindedness, it's honoring what you voted for!
"The most reasonable approach would have been to contact Trash Away first to find an interim solution since we already have a contract."
They did! Trash Away stated that they were not interested in anything other than what they have a signed contract for. This was within the two or three weeks this occurred. We've been over this several times. Trash Away has a contract to do X and won't shift gears to do anything but X per the legally binding contract they have with the town. They are not obligated to do anything but what the contract states, it's a very basic thing. Do a fact check before stating incorrect information.
Response to B's comment
Submitted by Franklin (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 9:45am.If you're a Yes voter and so upset with the pettiness of the town council... how can you agree with Anon, who suggests that we have no choice but to use Trash-away's automated service? I happen to notice that you don't really provide a solution to the problem your Yes vote has caused. How do you suggest we deal with the legal executed contract you voted to undo without having to pay Trash-Away for the hundreds of thousands they've spent on the conversion before the Yes voters noticed the problem? Your comment is phrased as though Trash-Away would be more than happy to toss their money down the toilet and do whatever the town asks. I would be really interested in knowing what the Yes voters expected would happen to that contract, since the proponents of the ordinance presented this as a 'choice' without mentioning the potentially bankrupting waste of money that undoing the current contract would cause.
Instead of any real solutions, you just take shots at the town council - which is what this whole petty waste of money and time is about.
What is the BIG deal ???
Submitted by Wayne (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 10:13am.I'm am a YES voter and have lived in this town for over 20 years. Being older I have no problem with wheeling the new bin(95 gallon) to the curb, I enjoy and welcome the change. Those of you who can't fit your trash in your new bin and refuse to pay for another bin should rethink of what you are throwing away. Do as I am doing-tear up your cereal boxes and anything that is too bulky step on it and flatten it..So what is the big deal ?? My mother who is 89years and lives in New Britain has the automated system, she likes it better for many resasons; the animals can't knock it over, when it is very windy she does'nt have to go into the busy road to get bin.........I have a long driveway (over 100feet) and look at this as excercise not a nusiance. The money that may be going to trash away for those who refuse to use the new system is a waste and should be going into the schools. There's more to life than refuse, so pick yourselves up dust yourselves off and get on with your lives. Remember life is too short.
Its just trash!
Submitted by Innewington (not verified) on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 1:52pm.Though I live in Newington, I have a vested interest in Berlin, I’ve been following this whole thing, and I just don’t get it. We switched to automated pick up a few years ago, and its been great. I don’t have to dodge cans and/or covers all over the road no matter what the weather, cans don’t get knocked down and trash spilled all over the place prior to collection and the street actually looks a little better with the automated cans. I have a long driveway and with the old cans, I would never drag them to the street or back, I’d let my husband deal with it, now I have no problem doing either. I live in an older neighborhood and about 50% are over 65 years old, they seem to take out the cans no problem, most even have the big ones. My neighbor is 83 and she brings her little can out every week, no problem.
What I don’t get is that we vote officials into office to make the decisions for us, sometimes they make good ones, sometimes they don’t, either way, the decisions are public information. I don’t even live in town and I knew you were switching to the automated pick up months ago. Why is it that no one cared enough to vote on the budget, which the trash collection change was part of, but because there’s drama people come out? If you want a say in what happens in the town then you have to get involved, not just caught up in some ridiculous drama. If this is how the town acts over trash, what’s going to happen if there is a major decision that needs to be made about public safety or the schools or anything else.
I also don’t understand why the current town officials decided to humor Argazzi and his group. Why didn’t they just say, “it was in the original budget, no one made any issues about it then or in Feb when it came up, we’re going forward”.
One other thing to consider, if changes are going to cost the town money, you’re taxes are going up. What people don’t think about is, that the higher your taxes go, the lower your property values become if you ever want to sell.
Really everyone needs to put aside their egos to do what’s for the greater good of the community, which at this point is just use the automated trash cans and move on with your lives, seriously, its just trash! If you don’t like that option, bring your garbage to the dump yourself. And no, you won’t be getting a tax refund because the town provides you with a very viable system, you’re just being stubborn and that’s not the town’s problem.
B...
Submitted by BerlinRes on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 1:58pm.B...I think your post highlights what is truly the most ridiculous part of this entire exercise. No matter what side of this issue you're on (a "Yes" or "No" voter), we all seem to be in agreement that the Town should not be spending any additional $$$ over this. This issue has moved from a manual vs. automated trash debate (which was very devisive) to a spend vs. save debate (which we're unified on). The Town Council needs to make a final decision that will cost the taxpayers the least, chalk it up to a lesson learned, and move on.
Where is Mr. Argazzi on all
Submitted by Gardener33 (not verified) on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 7:19am.Where is Mr. Argazzi on all of this? Where is his argument for bringing about this debacle? Are we going to hear justification, rationalizing or ranting? Hmmm...maybe we will get to hear an apology for not thinking this through and not keeping the best interest of the residents of Berlin in mind...
Nah. He is a politician. Never mind.
I agree with this comment
Submitted by Chris (not verified) on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 2:42pm.I agree with this comment whole heartedly. The rules and process are there to maintain the integrity of our government (as well as the voice of the people). While I agree with the council's decision, why wasn't a contingency placed in the contract? If the process is dated then lets update it to give the town the best possible chance to negotiate contracts as well as give the people the opportunity to vote (while not killing the previous).
As for the budget, do we really have a say? We vote, but it's not binding.... Let's not waste our time on voting unless it is binding....
Final note - I commend the council for coming together in order to troubleshoot the mess and give citizens the best possible outcome. Messes will happen, but it's the response to them that makes a difference. I don't often agree with the mayor and council, but do appreciate their efforts in this tough situation. :-)
This is the dumbest thing ever
Submitted by Jon (not verified) on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 8:48am.I admit that I "just" live in Berlin, and I don't take part in things like these petty politics. I can't tell you how frustrated I am with manual trash pickup. My wife and I were so happy that our town finally decided to go with an automated system. We have constant problems with all the issues that have been brought up (rainwater, animals, etc).
This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of, and I'm disgusted by everyone who's fighting this. At this point it doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong, but what is in the best interest of the town. My only regret is not knowing anything about this until after the vote.
Vote "yes" to save our trash service? I think that's an oxymoron from a bunch of morons.
Thank God>
Submitted by Trash_Talker (not verified) on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 10:40am.I moved my family out of Berlin. Not because of this particular issue but because of the way Berlin handles (or shall I say constantly mishandles) itself. Sure, all towns have problems but what I despise most are the "Berlin-ites" who feel they still reside in the Berlin of yesteryear. Wake up, you are not Durham or a "cowtown". Surrounding towns have been progressive over the years while Berlin remains stuck. Take a ride on the Berlin Turnpike from Meriden to Wethersfield and you will have a nice visual to back that statement up. BTW, what ever happened to "The Golden Triangle"? O yeah just another classic moment in the static history of Berlin, CT.
Wayne, If are you enjoying
Submitted by ADM (not verified) on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 5:11am.Wayne,
If are you enjoying and welcoming the change, and look at this as an excercise not a nusiance, why did you vote "Yes"?
I believe that a lot of people where confused by the "Yes" / "No" and voted "Yes" even though they were for the automatic trash system.
Chris, a YES vote on the
Submitted by G (not verified) on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 10:27am.Chris, a YES vote on the budget is binding. A NO vote rejects the budget, which then goes back to the Council for possible revision.
Argazzi is the root of all
Submitted by Shortmountain Man (not verified) on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 5:09pm.Argazzi is the root of all evil in this town. Time for him to move to Maine.
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