Politics & Government
Progress Stalls on New Condo/Commercial Trash Policy
One selectman says the town is in the "no-man's land of no joy" on the trash issue, while another wants more sweeping restrictions.
Hampton selectmen attempted this week to initiate a new trash and recycling policy to give the town's Planning Board guidance during talks about new developments, but multiple proposals failed after selectmen were divided on what has become a controversial issue.
Public Works Director Keith Noyes was recently tasked by selectmen to develop clear service restrictions that would eliminate the ambiguity surrounding whether a new building or business would receive curbside pickups.
Noyes presented a policy, based on selectmen's instructions, that would've only allowed curbside pickups at new residential and commercial developments if said developments could meet two requirements:
- Residents or staff on the property must bring the carts out to a town road or right of way.
- Only two carts — one trash and one recycling — can be placed on every 10 feet of linear space along the property's town road frontage. Ten feet was chosen, said Noyes, because each cart is three feet wide and there must be two feet in between carts in order for the town's sidearm trucks to be able to lift them.
Chairman Dick Nichols' motion to approve that policy failed 3-2, though. Nichols and Selectman Mike Pierce voted in favor of a plan they called "fair," while Phil Bean, Mike Plouffe and Mary-Louise Woolsey voted against it.
Woolsey doesn't want the town to be collecting at any commercial entity or at any new condominium, and she proposed a separate motion that would do just that. Her motion — which would've prohibited service at new hotels as well as at new two-unit condo buildings — was killed after it failed to get a second from another member of the board.
Bean said the town is "picking on business owners" through this "micromanagement" of the Hampton Public Works Department and its collection practices. He said he wants to "disassociate" himself with other selectmen's trash "agenda[s]" because he said there is no data available about the costs to service these entities, despite the fact that he has requested it multiple times in public sessions.
"I question the people that are making these moves on these issues if they even understand Hampton at all, because I think I do," said Bean. "This effort right here is a nonstarter. It will yield no benefits. We are in the no-man's land of no joy and I am not supporting anything starting tonight."
Hampton-North Hampton Patch requested similar data last week, although none had been made available as of Thursday.
No motions passed during Monday's meeting about a trash policy for new developments. The planning board requested selectmen pass a policy because several trash collection-related issues arose in the past couple of years due to inconsistency on condominium documents.
Woolsey, who has been a vocal opponent of the town paying for commercial entities' trash removal, called for the item to be put on the agenda for next week's meeting because she feels "someone needs to get off the pot" and deal with the issue.
"We are drowning in waste," said Woolsey. "I think it is totally irresponsible for this board to not give specific guidance about what we find acceptable. We’ve gotten ourselves into a hole, and we’ve got to start digging out of it."
Nichols said he is in favor of a plan that doesn't "discriminate against commercial or condominium developments," and he argued that plan using the framework of the proposal presented by Noyes could work.
"I thought [the policy presented by Noyes] was fairly benign, and I didn’t think it conflicted with any of the things Phil was saying," said Nichols.
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