Town to Stop or Dramatically Change Trash Service at Trailer Parks, Biz

Hampton will soon no longer pick up any trash and recyclable materials on private property as town officials continue to address issues with the town-run collection program's fairness, efficiency and liability.

Selectmen unanimously passed a motion Monday night that will affect a slew of businesses, churches, a mobile home park and a private school that, due to various reasons, currently require town employees to go onto private property to collect those entities' refuse and recyclable materials.

The board didn't set an implementation date for the changes, instead giving Public Works Director Keith Noyes the power to make that determination when he reevaluates the town and Hampton Beach summer collection in September. Chairman Dick Nichols said, though, that he recommends no service be altered until at least Oct. 15, which is when the Hampton Beach mobile home park closes for the season.

The Hampton Beach mobile home park on Kings Highway is possibly the entity affected most by the changes, as selectmen and officials have long called for an end to pickups on that property because the streets running between the park's 183 units are too narrow for the town's trucks.

Placing carts for all of those units along Kings Highway also isn't possible, according to officials. That's why selectmen also approved Monday a stipulation by Nichols that "any entity that no longer has a need for carts" due to town-mandated changes will be "refunded the full amount" for the carts if they are returned to the town.

Selectman Mary-Louise Woolsey initiated the conversation Monday with a motion that specifically identified various entities, although selectmen unanimously replaced the language of that motion with an amendment made by Nichols as a way to pass a universal policy that can address any and all present and future issues with collection on private properties in Hampton.

"If we make the motion that way, if something else is identified later on down the road, then the problem’s solved," said Nichols.

The entities that were identified in Woolsey's original motion are as follows: Hampton Methodist Church, First Congregational Church of Hampton, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Sacred Heart School, Taylor River Estates, Four Seasons, Hemlock Haven, the Hampton Beach mobile home park, Ocean Wok, Towle Farm Market, Hoaty's, The Kitchen at Depot Square, JD's Superbeef, FUN After School Program, and Liberty Gardens.

The businesses, churches and SHS still have the right to bring carts curbside, and selectmen said they also have the option to transport their own items to the Hampton transfer station, where they'll be charged a fee. They also have the option to hire an independent trash collector, or place a dumpster on their properties and hire an independent company to empty it, according to selectmen.

Taylor River Estates, Four Seasons and Hemlock Haven are all mobile home parks that currently place recycling and trash carts by the curb. These parks can continue to do so despite Monday's motion, although they also have the option to go the independent collection or dumpster routes, which is what selectmen said the beach park will have to do.

Nichols said Noyes' calculations estimate that the end of service to the Hampton Beach mobile home park, often referred to as the Park at Hampton Beach, would only "add a buck or two more a month" to the cost of operating each unit.

Monday's motion doesn't address collection on private roads, which Nichols said will be addressed in the future after selectmen get more information about the differences between the classes of private roads in Hampton, as well as historical information from the Hampton Planning Board, among other things.