Danvers $200 Trash Fee Set After Final Select Board Discussion

DANVERS, MA — Danvers residents who want to continue to have their trash and recycling picked up at the curb will be charged a $200 annual fee starting in July after the Select Board gave split approval to Town Manager Steve Bartha's recommendation for the fee on Tuesday night.

Bartha, who sought Select Board approval even though it was under his authority to impose the fee, said the $200 would offset the $1.13 million increase in trash and recycling collection costs to the town under the new contract that began this summer.

The fee will be billed $50 quarterly as part of homeowner water bill cycles.

The Select Board voted 3-2 to support Bartha's decision with David Mills, Daniel Bennett and Gardner Trask endorsing the fee, while Maureen Bernard and Matthew Duggan voted in opposition.

"I don't like anybody spending my money and I don't like any increase in paying for anything, including the gas at the pump," Mills said. "But I think that this particular trash thing is a very important thing that should be."

Mills denied Bernard's request that the Select Board ask Bartha to table a final decision on the fee for one month in order to gather more public feedback and consider funding alternatives.

"I am not in favor of it and I don't like the fact that it's another big challenge," Bernard said. "There are challenges for a lot of people. But think this is another big challenge for the residents to have another fee. As much as some people might say that it's not a lot, it is still a lot when money is so important nowadays."

Homeowners will have the option to opt out of the pickup service for one year at a time instead of paying the fee and there will be exemptions for qualifying Danvers residents based on income, disability and other factors.

Bartha also said on Tuesday that, at the request of residents, the town was able to negotiate a return to weekly recycling pickup beginning the week of Jan. 1.

A three-hour, often-contentious discussion at the Danvers Select Board Budget Conference Committee meeting in October ended with a majority of members of the committee voting in favor of the fee to potentially free up more money for other priorities, which could include increased special education spending.

Bartha clarified on Tuesday that the collections would go into the town's general operating fund and could not be earmarked for any specific expenditure ahead of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget process.

Bartha added that residents who requested a second trash or recycling bin will soon receive them with 69 requests for a second trash barrel, while requests for a second recycling bin may be mitigated with the move to weekly recycling.

He added that there were 103 requests for "smaller" trash and recycling barrels at a marginally reduced price. He said the pickup cost per household remains about the same regardless of the amount of trash and recycling being collected but that the smaller units would be delivered for those who were having trouble maneuvering the 64-gallon trash bin and 95-gallon recycling bin.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)