Transfer Station Improvements Designed to Add Convenience, Save Money

The recent renovations at the town’s transfer station are designed to do much more than add convenience and visual appeal, town officials said.

The most visual changes are the smoother, more gradual ramp, brightly painted parking spaces, improved signage and the location of the trash and recycling containers side by side.

And providing a better, easier-to use station is important, Public Works Director Robert Martin said.

“We think we provided an upgrade in a lot of ways,” Martin said. “The feedback of the residents has been very positive.”

But the improvements go beyond that, Martin said. Rather than 36-gallon containers, the renovations allow for 50-yard containers. In addition, a compactor is now used for single-stream recycling. Those changes allow more to fit in the containers, which allows fewer trips to the Hartford facility that takes the refuse. Since the town pays $240 each time a container is hauled, fewer trips means less money expended, Martin said. 

“That will lead to us sending out fewer containers and paying less hauling fees,” he said.

In the eight-day period, since the improvements have been made, one trash and one recycling container were hauled.

“Prior to the improvements, it was double that,” Martin said.

As a result, the town will be able to recoup the money it spent on the improvements within a year and a half, Martin said.

The project’s budget was $20,000 and costs came in at $19,307.

Originally, the department had planned to go with a phased project and fix the ramp at a later date. However, since alternative containers had been set up, and the area was clear, the department decided to ask the town’s permission to do it now rather than disrupt service again.

“It made more sense to do it at the same time,” said Martin, who added that he wanted to thank selectmen and other officials for supporting the improvements.

The work took about three weeks with a small group of town employees, three to four at a time, doing nearly all the work, said highway foreman Rick Lassen.

The town knocked down the old “pad” for the compactors, erected the new one, prepped the site and performed the related work involved.

Just a few items like paving and some concrete pouring were contracted out.

“We did everything else,” Lassen said.

Martin said there were some other positive aspects of the project. Burlington and Avon both loaned equipment, preventing he town from having to rent or buy items such as an asphalt saw, skid-steer loader and vibratory loader.

The Board of Selectmen briefly discussed the changes during its meeting last week.

“I think it looks excellent,” First Selectman Richard Barlow said, adding that he thanks Skinner, Martin, Project Administrator Jeff Shea and others who worked on the project.

Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said other changes at the transfer station are under consideration, such as moving the exchange shack and lowering the bulky waste containers to make it easier to throw items into them.