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Canton Sustainability Minutes June 1, 2020
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Canton Sustainability Committee Agenda June 1, 2020 – 7:00 pm Via Zoom Members Present:Christine Smith, Phil Brown, Tim Calabrese, Patti McDermott, Andrea Stuart Others Present:Erin Connor (not yet appointed) Follow up on Discussion regarding DEP Grants and outreach to DPW Patti has had no response in reaching out to DPW regarding SMRP grant Since DEP grants need to go through DPW as they manage the REtrac system, Christine suggested we focus efforts elsewhere Canton has a need to reduce trash based on numbers provided by Kathi from DEP at the February Meeting Town does not have an appetite to increase recycling (i.e., adding recycling containers at senior housing) since the tipping fees for recycling are more than the fees for trash and if we want to increase recycling we were told to find the money to pay for it Christine suggested that the logical solution is a Pay As You Throw program (PAYT) which would incentivize trash reduction We could get information from other towns and put together a presentation to BOS, who ultimately has the decision Timing could be good as the Republic contract will be up for renewal and we know that the costs are going to increase; the Town will also be facing budget issues due to COVID so this is an opportunity to move to this system, which many other surrounding towns already have. There was a discussion of many steps to take to effect this change: Education will be a key part of getting to a PAYT system People need to know that our costs are high and our contaminatin is high It was suggested we could do a survey Establishing a Swap Shop at the Pine Street facility would also be an option to help with PAYT We need to get information on timing of the Republic Contract Need data from other towns. Republic Contract: What is the duration of the contract What is the current cost When is it up for renewal – June 30, 2021 Patti & Christine will see if they can find out more details on contract Education – what are our channels? Canton Citizen Canton Cable Social media Webinar/Podcast Survey Town Hall Event/Library May get help from Kathi at DEP Laura Smead – Town Planner PAYT Info from Other Towns: Milton: Phil will reach out Dedham: Christine will reach out Sharon: Patti will reach out Survey: Tim will create list in Google Docs that we can all add too Everyone will go into document and add in ideas for questions and the questions will be discussed at the next meeting Next Meeting: July 6th – everyone agreed to go ahead with this date Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm