A single-stream curbside recycling program has been in place citywide for just over two weeks; already one councilor says it's time to talk about scrapping it.
Councilor William Ryan said he plans to open a discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting regarding the city's new trash pick up ordinances.
Ryan said he believes the new rules — one of which eliminates municipal pickup for commercial and industrial trash — could cripple small businesses. He also said he's concerned about the stricter rules for residential pickup, which reduce the number of barrels each residential property is allowed to put out.
"It's really a hardship on businesses and homeowners," said Ryan. "There's been little to no advance notice to the community on this."
Ryan said he believes the city's new single-stream recycling program might be the cause behind the new changes in city ordinance. He said he's planning to discuss if the city was able to afford the program to begin with and not "quietly stick it to the homeowner and business owner."
"It's a great program if you can afford it but we can't afford it," he said.
But Remi Depommier, the co-chairman of Team Haverhill's and the city's Trash and Recycling Task Force, single-stream recycling — which allows property owners to put all mixed recyclables in the same container and leave it at the curb for pickup — saves the city money.
Currently, 200 non-restaurant businesses in the downtown area receive free trash pick up.
Cutting pickup for the downtown businesses will save the city nearly $40,000k Depommier said.
"It was somewhat unfair for business outside these areas not to be given these services," Depommier said. "I think it's a misunderstanding. These are cost reducing measures done across the board."
Ryan said he's invited a number of business owners to speak at Tuesday's meeting.
For complete coverage of this topic, revisit this site and see the print edition of The Haverhill Gazette, available on July 29.
