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Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 21, 2024 ASKS | FROM PAGE 9 were going into our trash tonnage. The residents are paying for their trash to be taken – not businesses’ trash. Businesses can hire any disposal company they would like. They could hire Republic to get their dumpster. But they have to pay for it. We pay Republic to pick up and haul the trash for us. And we pay the tipping fee for WIN. Those are the two big bills that come out of trash and recycling. We have one year left on our contract with Republic, which expires on June 30, 2025. Saugus has a manual, not automated system. Republic has hinted that they’d like to go the automated route. But the three barrels per single family home is in the bylaw that would have to be changed. Q: What was the goal when you began as director of solid waste and recycling? A: The foundation was here. My goal was to see if we could find people to fill the office and give the residents the services they deserve. That was accomplished, thanks to the manager and everybody in town government who helped us. We streamlined some things to make the department better for the residents. We’re here to offer a service to the residents, and I’d like to see it run as smoothly as possible. Q: Have the complaints gone down since you began work? A: I’m glad to say they have. It takes a lot of people to help the department be successful, from the town manager and his staff to the DPW director and his staff – even women who answer the phone in the office. Everybody has helped. It’s not a department where you think you can do everything on your own. Q: What are some of the things you’ve done to make the department more effective? A: We’ve had a problem on Eastern Avenue. It was notorious for large amounts of illegal dumping. With grant money, we put two solar cameras down there. If people do illegal dumping down there, we’re going to be able to tell who. We’ve got another camera at one of the town’s buildings. Q: What are some of the other issues you are dealing with? A: We have a dumpster at the CHaRM Center [Center for Hard to Recycle Materials] This trash dumpster at the CHaRM Center stores illegally dumped mattresses picked up by the town. Grant money paid for it and the protective cover on top. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) A pile of tires that sets near a dumpster containing hard plastic are among the materials being recycled at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM). (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) Receptacles holding paper and cardboard, computers, console TV’s and flat screen TVs and computer monitors are popular stops for town residents visiting the CHaRM Center behind the Department of Public Works Building at 515 Main St. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) where we have to put illegally dumped mattresses. That’s an additional cost right now. Q: How many illegally dumped mattresses are we talking about? A: In a year’s time, it’s upwards of 70 – the mattresses are at least $50 to dispose of. Before November 1, 2022, the town would pick them up. But the state law went into effect that bans mattresses from disposal in the trash. We’ve had to tag 106 mattresses that were left for trash pickup. The town has offered the names of five businesses that take away mattresses. We give people five names and let them make the best deal. Since last August, we’ve been tagging illegal mattresses left in the trash. With spray paint, we put a number on it. If that mattress winds up someplace else in town, we know where it came from. The fact we don’t take mattresses anymore has to do with state law and has nothing to do with the town. The cheapest and easiest way to get rid of a mattress is to pay $25 to get your old mattress taken away when you have the new one brought into the house. If the state thought about it before they put the new law into effect, they should have put seven receiving stations for mattresses strategically placed around the state. I think that would have been a good idea. Q: What’s the best indicator that recycling is working in Saugus? A: If the tonnage goes up; that’s something we’ve begun tracking. In the calendar year 2023, the town reported collecting 1,633 tons of recycling material. If it’s over that when we add up the numbers for 2024, we can say that the residents are doing a better job of recycling. Q: What are some of the other improvements you’re making? A: There used to be a Jersey barrier with a chain and a padlock at the entrance to the CHaRM Center. With grant money, we bought a gate and we put signage up there. The gate went up last October. We put speed bumps in the CHaRM Center. And we bought cones with grant money. The chain had been there 30 years, I’m told. It looks better now and it looks more professional. I guess we didn’t want the dump to look like a dump. Q: What’s with the slogan “Trash Never Sleeps,” which is printed on the back of your t-shirt and also on the front? A: That was my idea. Everything else has been a team effort. Neil Young once wrote a song “Rust Never Sleeps.” After being on the job a few months, I said to myself, “You know something, I guess the trash never sleeps. It’s always going to be there. Trash never takes a day off. I’m in the process of getting it trademarked. Q: How many people have these t-shirts like the one you’re wearing? A: Everyone in my department, all of the DPW workers and the women who work in the office. Anybody who works for the town and has a reason to be up in the CHaRM Center or has anyEarly in his time as Director of Solid Waste & Recycling, Scott Brazis coined the phrase “Trash Never Sleeps” and put it on t-shirts that are now worn by any town employees involved with the CHaRM Center. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) thing to do with trash or recycling has one. All it does is make us all visible and lets people know we’re up there if they need some help or have a complaint. I must say that 99 percent of the people who come up here appreciate it and like it to its fullest. Let’s face it, we’re out there in the community. When you’re at somebody’s house tagging the trash or putting a notice in the mailbox, residents are pretty much going to know that you work for the town. Q: Have you had any dealings with WIN Waste Innovations? A: My only dealings with WIN had to do with Republic’s concerns about having to wait in line to drop off trash at the incinerator. So, we did a study on it and found out that Republic trucks were waiting an average of 57 minutes. I was there one day and trucks were waiting for two hours. ASKS | SEE PAGE 13

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