Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD)
Brattleboro, Vermont
Board of Supervisors Meeting
Via Zoom and In-person
AMENDED Minutes of September 11, 2025
Members Present: (In-person)
Chair: Michelle Cherrier, Dummerston; Vice Chair(interim): Dan Toomey, Putney; Stanley Noga, Jr, Brookline; Stephan Chait, Halifax (alternate); Kate Ullman, Jamaica, Doris Knetchel, Newfane; Irvin Stowell, Townshend; Sandra Rulewich, Vernon; Liz Spector, Wardsboro; Lou Bordeaux, Westminster; Merrill Mundell, Wilmington
Members Absent: Amanda Ellis-Thurber, Brattleboro; Stephen Dotson, Brattleboro (alternate); Doug Wellman, Brookline (alternate); Dan Baliotti, Dover; Kevin Stine, Dover (alternate); Lewis Sumner, Halifax; Jessica Pollack, Jamaica (alternate); Ellen Dudley, Marlboro; Carla Meskill, Marlboro (alternate); Rickey Harrington, Somerset; Kent Young, Stratton; Jim Pinkerton, Vernon (alternate); Dave Eastman, Guilford
WSWMD Staff Present: Robert Spencer, Executive Director; Vicki Hayes, Finance Manager & HR Administrator; Peter Gaskill, Programs Coordinator; Alex Lacy, Outreach Coordinator; Anita Grant, Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk
Other Guests: None
- Roll Call of Supervisors: Anita performed a roll call of supervisors present. (11 towns, 11 supervisors)
- Changes or Additions to the Agenda: None
- Approval of Minutes- August 2025:
Stanley made the motion to approve the Board of Supervisors minutes from August 2025, Lou seconded, and the motion carried with two (2) abstentions.
- Approval of Check Register- August 2025:
A question was asked about the HVAC upgrade, and Anita reported that the contractor had difficulty obtaining all the parts, and the upgrade has been pushed to mid-October.
Doris made the motion to approve the Check Register of August 2025, Lou seconded, and the motion passed with one abstention.
- Approval of Financial Statement- August 2025:
Vicki reported that August finished with a $57,000 surplus. She attributed that fact to strong tip fees, access sticker sales, and total revenues of $122,000. She also noted that the new CCP (Compost Collection Program) revenues are included in the Sale of Recycled Materials and that she would work on breaking that out into its own revenue section. Salaries and benefits were up slightly, but overall expenses are staying within budget. She also informed the Board that moving forward, she was going to report the mattress disposal charges separately as well.
Merrill inquired about more information regarding the costs associated with the CCP, and Vicki informed him that she has been keeping a separate spreadsheet and would include the information in the financial statements moving forward.
Dan made the motion to approve the Financial Statement of August 2025, Merrill seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
- 2026-2030 Solid Waste Implementation Plan (SWIP) Renewal:
Bob reported that the first public hearing had been held at the WSWMD office on August 25, 2025, and that no one had attended nor made comments regarding the SWIP renewal. The second hearing, mandated by the state, will be held on October 8 @ 1 PM at the Wilmington Town Office. The notice of public hearing will be announced for three consecutive weeks, as mandated by the WSWMD Charter, in the Deerfield Valley News & the Commons starting the week of 9/15/25. The draft SWIP will be available for Board approval at the October 9, 2025, BOS meeting.
- Outreach Coordinators Report:
- Alex reported that the attempts to compost at the Guilford Fair were very successful, and the District received 760 lbs. of clean compost. Dave Eastman, the Guilford WSWMD representative, worked both days of the fair with Alex to minimize the contamination. She also indicated that this was a learning experience and that the fair would generate more if more event bins had been allocated for the event.
- She will be working with a documentarian crew (CREAM based), filming her doing the compost collection at the Guilford Central School on Friday, 9/12/25 and along with editing by Natasha Duarte of the Compost Association of VT (CAV). The documentary is funded by a USDA grant, which currently funds the Guilford pilot drop-off.
- She will be attending the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro and asked Board members to keep her notified of local events that she could reach out to for training & education on compost and recycling. Many members gave her events to check into.
- She also reported that her next three Front Porch Forum posts would include guidelines on textile recycling, the public hearing regarding the 2026 SWIP renewal, and purchasing compost/topsoil for Fall top dressing rather than waiting for spring.
- Program Coordinator’s Report:
- Peter updated on the new battery recycling program with Call 2 Recycle, so now batteries are being collected in drums and picked up by the pallet. He has also identified other battery types that this program will take and pay the District $.25/lb.
- He and Bob met with the paint recyclers (Paint Care) when they toured Brattleboro. They discussed the new items that would be added to the current Paint Care program to include spray paint and finish products, absorbing approximately 25% of the household hazardous waste costs once those products are approved for recycling.
- The Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Depot had served 281 customers in FY 25 and is currently at 265 customers with 5 weeks left of the season that closes on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.
- Peter visited Jamaica, Dover, and Wilmington transfer stations to work with the transfer station operators to identify issues, concerns, and offer technical assistance. He indicated that each transfer station was so different that its operational manuals would need to be tailored for each establishment, rather than take a cookie-cutter approach.
- He also announced that there will be a training course for special recycling programs being held at the WSWMD office on October 6 from 4 PM to 6 PM. The training is provided by the VT Department of Environmental Conservation/Agency of Natural Resources and is open to all District transfer station operators.
- Executive Director’s Report:
- Skip Bonnett will be returning to work on Monday, September 15, to the scale part-time after being out for 8 weeks and will be working a 20-hour work week.
- He read an evaluation of the WSWMD shop truck prepared by Leadfoot Auto Specialties. The truck has been deemed unsafe to operate on the roads and should be a yard truck only. After much discussion, Bob and the Board agreed that the pickup truck needed to be moved ahead of the Sterling roll-off truck for replacement. Bob would start researching now for a new truck to run the CCP route.
- Bob shared the Brattleboro Reformer article, which showed employee Quincy Hope running the CCP route at the transfer stations. He also let the Board know that both Wardsboro and Wilmington are soon to sign up, and reminded Kate that Jamaica needed to submit a signed contract to continue their service.
- Bob reported that he, Peter, and Alex are finishing up the final pieces of the $59,000 USDA grant that had a one-year extension. They have been visiting the town highway departments and town offices to assist with trash, recycling, and composting. He also reported that they are researching future USDA grants, as the grants have just been announced.
- Executive Session (if needed): N/A
- Other Business:
- Michelle reminded the Board that the seasons would be changing, and the BOS meeting times at 6 PM is reasonable, but asked if the members would consider earlier start times during the winter. This would most likely be specific to when a Finance Committee meeting and BOS meeting were on the same day.
- Vicki reminded the Finance Committee that there is a meeting scheduled on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 6 PM to start the budgeting process for FY 27.
- Sandra Rulewich, Vernon’s WSWMD representative, announced that she is retiring from the BOS, and this was her last meeting, as the family is moving out of state. She thanked the Board and the WSWMD employees for all their support, education, and encouragement over the years, and expressed sadness at having to leave.
- Finance Committee Meeting: Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 6 PM (Budget Workshop)
- Next Meeting- Board of Supervisors: Thursday, October 9, 2025 @ 6 PM
- Adjournment: Lou motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Merrill, and the meeting adjourned at 7:18 PM.
Minutes prepared by,
Anita Grant, Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk