When a controversial warrant article about the town's trash and recycling collection goes before voters this March, it'll be one of the few articles without an overwhelming selectmen recommendation.
The Hampton Board of Selectmen recently voted 4-1 not to recommend a petitioned warrant article that would discontinue all town-run curbside refuse and recycling service at commercial and retail locations in town and at Hampton Beach.
The article was created by Selectman Mary-Louise Woolsey — who was the only one who voted to recommend the article on Monday — as a way to get "Hampton out of the commercial waste pickup business" after she felt the board backed down by pulling that option off the table.
Woolsey felt the board did that again Monday by not voting for her article, telling her fellow selectmen they "missed a great opportunity" after they shot it down without any discussion on the matter.
The article, which will be discussed at the annual deliberative session at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Winnacunnet High School before moving forward to the March 11 town meeting ballot, has drawn a fair amount of criticism from local residents and businesses.
The Hampton Chamber of Commerce has even vowed to prevent the article from passing.
"Voting to cease collection with no other option [in place] is not the right way," Doc Noel, the president of the chamber, said in a recent public session. "In the next few weeks our organization will work to stop this article from passing. It's the right thing for Hampton. We want Hampton to move forward — not backward."
A copy of Woolsey's article can be found here, and Woolsey — a vocal critic of the town's trash and recycling policies — explains her reasoning in greater detail here.
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