At its Feb. 27 meeting, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve membership of a re-formed Transfer Station Committee: the director of public works, Tim Kilhart; two selectmen, Stu Sklar and Ken Swanton; and two members of the Board of Health, Libby Levison and Tom Philippou, who was later elected chairman of the group.
The selectmen also unanimously approved a charge to the committee that reads, “The Transfer Station Committee is to develop a proposed implementation plan for the SMART recycling program for the Board of Selectmen to consider and then help guide any resulting implementation plan.”
According to Irene Congdon, municipal assistance coordinator with the Department of Environmental Protection, the goal of SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash) is to increase recycling and decrease costs of trash removal. In an earlier interview with the Press, Sharon McCarthy, chairwoman of the Board of Health, outlined the general way SMART could work in Harvard. The town would still issue Transfer Station permits, but at a reduced price. The money collected from stickers would pay for operating costs of the Transfer Station. Residents would then purchase special bags and pay for each bag of trash they put in the hauler, the goal being to motivate them to increase their recyclables and reduce their trash. That money would be used to pay the tipping fees, the cost of contracting with haulers for trash removal. Ideally, a monetary incentive to reduce trash would in turn reduce tipping costs.
