WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen will soon be asked to decide if they’ll go back to the future where trash fees are concerned.
Town Administrator Frank Lynam will be meeting further with the DPW on the matter, but in the meantime plans to recommend a new pricing structure to Selectmen later this month. Residents could be paying $250 a year once more — the price charged two years ago. The fee had been $225 this year.
Lynam said he hopes that amount will be enough to cover services while a new contract with the present hauler is negotiated as service continues.
EZ Disposal of Revere, a division of Capitol Waste Services Inc., has been providing waste hauling services to the town since June. Previous hauler Delprete filed for bankruptcy.
“EZ Disposal picked up the trash without interruption when Delprete was ordered to discontinue operating [by bankruptcy court],” Lynam said this week. Both Whitman and Pembroke were affected by the ruling and are now served by EZ.
“We are in the process of negotiating with EZ for a contract,” Lynam said. “We had presented a contract, which included manual trash pickup — two employees on the truck, one driving, the other picking up the trash.”
The company has proposed moving to an automated system, such as is used in Abington. The trucks are fitted out with a mechanical device that lifts barrels to empty them into the truck.
“There is a cost associated with that,” he said. “It’s in the $320,000 to $350,000 range for the barrels.”
Each household would be provided two 64-gallon tubs, both equipped with lift-bars, which current barrels do not have. One trash barrel and one recycle barrel are included.
“I don’t know what will happen if somebody wants a second barrel, we haven’t addressed that yet,” Lynam said.