Solid-waste costs, transfer-station operations and new battery drum discussed

Board members reviewed solid-waste expenditures and operations, referencing compost and hauling budgets, wages for transfer-station staff and the annual special-dump day. The compost/trash hauling figure had been set at $22,000 last year; one participant reported an $88,676 figure in the ledger as of midyear for solid-waste accounts.

The transfer station is piloting a 55-gallon drum battery-collection process that layers batteries with flame-retardant material before shipment; staff said pickups are occasional but may yield hundreds of pounds per shipment. A transfer-station incident (a minor slip and elbow injury) was documented and an incident report filed. The board also discussed recurring bounced checks and vendor shifts to electronic-only invoicing that will require staff email coordination.

"The new battery collection process is underway... it's got a bunch of flame retardant material," a board member said while describing the drum and pickup process. Members accepted continued funding for the special-dump day (budgeted roughly $5,000) while noting the event often generates less income than it costs.