Milford Money Supports Garbage Museum's Survival

The Garbage Museum’s Trash-o-saurus, a sculpture made from a ton of rubbish, may not go extinct just yet. With the museum facing closure due to financial problems, Milford is the latest town to pledge money to keep the location open.

“It gets us from first base to second base,” said Paul Nonnenmacher, director of public affairs for the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA), which owns the museum. “We’ll be in scoring position.”

However, the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority is at its final at bat. The organization manages municipal waste and recycling in the state, also oversees the museum. A drop in revenues as towns move to other waste management companies led to the threatened nature of the museum, and it could close as early as July 1, according to Nonnenmacher.

On Monday night, the Board of Aldermen approved a payment of 75 cents for every ton of trash handled by the CRRA in town. That bonus is capped at $26,500, which would be the total rate if waste removal was the same as last year.

Nonnenmacher said that by Friday, the CRRA needs a “significant” amount of money. Overall, the CRRA needs approximately $176,000 to stay open for the next fiscal year. The museum has a staff of four, including two part-time employees, and sees about 20,000 thousand annual visitors.

Westport and Woodbridge have already pledged the money, while Fairfield, Bridgeport and others have not firmly committed or declined yet.

While the vote passed 12-3, the approval of the money was scrutinized by some of the aldermen.

“It seems excessive, at least for me, that we cut teachers and firemen, that we’re going to use $26,000 because the CRRA doesn’t have the revenues coming in this year that they had in the past,” said Benjamin Blake, D-5.

Alderman Nick Veccharelli, D-2, agreed with Blake.

“[The CRRA] have to try and do what everyone else in the state is doing…and try and lower their costs,” he said.  

Nonnenmacher said that if the necessary money isn't raised, then the funds would be returned to the town.

The museum is located at . It has been open for more than 15 years.

Update: Details about the money could possibly be returned to the town has been added to the article.