Council Approves Solid Waste Ordinance

By Adam Swift

At its meeting last week, the Town Council approved a solid waste ordinance for the town.

The ordinance codifies many of the items that have been in place for the past several years under the town’s current trash hauler contract, according to councilors.

The one thing the ordinance does do which is new is provide for a method for residents to pay for additional town-approved trash bags to dispose of trash that goes over the one-barrel limit.

“This codifies our solid waste and curbside collection program into our ordinances,” said Council Vice President Stephen Ruggiero. “It gives deference to our town manager to set the fee, and he already has the ability to do that through prior motions. It more so formalizes that, and it also gives deference to the town manager to charge for overflow bags.”

Charging for the overflow bags will create a more equitable system for residents where they are going to pay for the amount of trash that they produce. The ordinance also allows the town manager to negotiate with some of the rooming houses and the housing authority on trash fees.

“We are not voting on a trash fee or an enterprise fund, the big change is the overflow bag policy,” said Ruggiero.

Winthrop Council President James Letterie said most residents will not be affected by the ordinance.

“When the previous town manager signed a trash contract, the contract stipulated that each household was able to throw out one barrel of trash provided by the town,” said Letterie. “We have, over the past two years, been very lenient with that. The goal of this has been to reduce the amount of solid waste we throw out as a town.”

Letterie also noted that there is an abatement process possible through the ordinances which could allow a break for senior citizens and others.

In other business, the council also approved a town-wide flag policy. The policy allows the town to fly flags in addition to the United States, state, and POW/MIA flags on poles on town property.

The policy stipulates that those flags are an expression of official sentiment and not a public forum.

“Town flag poles are not intended as a forum of free expression by the public, rather, the decisions of the Town Council or the Town Manager concerning which flags to fly and when and from what flag poles are intended as an expression of official town sentiment,” the ordinance states.