Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD)
Brattleboro, Vermont
Board of Supervisors Meeting
Via Zoom and In-person
Draft Minutes of March 13, 2025
Members Present: (In-person & Zoom)
Chair: Michelle Cherrier, Dummerston; Vice Chair: Patrick Moreland, Brattleboro; Stanley Noga, Brookline; Dave Eastman, Guilford; Dan Ballioti, Dover; Kevin Stine, Dover (alternate); Stephan Chait, Halifax (alternate); Kate Ullman, Jamaica; Ellen Dudley, Marlboro; Dan Toomey, Putney; Irvin Stowell, Townshend; Sandra Rulewich, Vernon; Jim Pinkerton, Vernon (alternate); Liz Spector, Wardsboro; Merrill Mundell, Wilmington
Members Absent: Doug Wellman, Brookline (alternate); Jessica Pollack, Jamaica (alternate); Doris Knechtel, Newfane; Carla Meskill, Marlboro (alternate); Jim Damato, Readsboro; Rickey Harrington, Somerset; Kent Young, Stratton; Lou Bordeaux, Westminster
WSWMD Staff Present: Robert Spencer, Executive Director; Peter Gaskill, Programs Coordinator; Vicki Hayes, Finance Manager & HR Administrator; Anita Grant, Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk
Other Guests: None
As a quorum was present, Michelle called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM
- Roll Call of Members: Anita called the roll of members present. A total of 13 towns were represented by 15 supervisors and alternates.
- Changes or Additions to the Agenda: Bob informed the board that Long Falls Paperboard, listed third on the agenda, would not be attending.
- Approval of Minutes- January 2025:
Merrill made a motion to accept the January 2025 minutes as written, Patrick seconded, and the motion passed with three abstentions.
- Approval of Check Registers- January & February 2025:
As the discussion of the check registers was about to start, the meeting was disrupted by multiple instances of pornographic audio and video clips, aka “Zoom-bombing”. This created chaos for about fifteen minutes until all the unwelcome participants could be removed from the meeting. Once they were successfully removed, the meeting resumed without any further disruption. Anita will be reporting the Zoom logs to Zoom for further investigation and it was determined that the “waiting room” feature would be enabled for future meetings to guard against unauthorized entry into the meetings.
There was no discussion regarding the check registers.
Patrick made the motion to approve both January & February Check Registers, seconded by Liz, and the motion was carried unanimously.
- Approval of Financial Statements- January & February 2025:
Vicki reported from the February statement since they are cumulative. February finished with a surplus of $138,725.70, however, this is not an accurate surplus. As a result of the accounting method used, the Compost Facility Expansion (CFE) expenses have not been run through the financial statements yet. However, the adjustments will be made in March’s financials.
Despite February being the shortest and slowest month, revenues finished 2% above budget at $134,825, after adjusting for the CFE grant money, roughly $70,000. Since the OCC loads have declined, one load a month is still being sold, and the commodity price has held firm at $93/ton for the past few months. She reported that the $35 half-year access sticker (1st year) was very well received, and 107 stickers were sold in February. She was asked about grant money, and until the USDA report is submitted, the USDA still owes WSWMD $150,000 for the CFE grant, and VT ANR (Agency of Natural Resources) owes the District $2,300.
On the expense side, she reported that payroll was running 3% below budget; outside hauling in January of $1,000 was due to the Sterling truck being down for a couple of weeks; the final cleanout of the Household Hazardous Waste Depot was $12,000 and that expenses finished 7% over budget due to cost overruns (unbudgeted tailings removed from compost field) on the CFE project. With the tailings subtracted from the bottom line, expenses ended at 67% of budget. She again reminded the committee that March financials would show the full impact of the CFE project.
Patrick made the motion to approve both January & February Financial Statements, seconded by Dan Toomey, and the motion carried with one abstention.
- Programs Coordinator’s Report:
- Peter attended the US Composting Council Conference in Phoenix, AZ in late January. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to take the trip, see equipment in person, and attend relevant compost seminars.
- Peter reminded the board that the mattress fee is increasing in July from $10 to $40 with Casella. He has been researching alternatives that include trucking mattresses to a recycling plant in Gardner, MA; working with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and creating a business plan for a start-up business to collect and recycle mattresses locally, working in partnership with WSWMD to possibly bale the recycled materials. He also said that the business collecting mattresses may also be used to collect compost at the WSWMD transfer station towns.
- Peter said that he would like the towns that are interested in joining the Request for Proposals (RFPs) to get back to him as soon as possible so he can move forward with the project. Bob stated that he would like the town’s intention in a letter signed by the chair of the town’s Select Board.
- Executive Director’s Report:
- Bob reported that he attended a joint meeting for Selectboards in NewBrook with the VT League of Cities & Towns (VLCT), Windham Regional Commission (WRC), and the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). He said that they were coordinating “Councils of Government” – an initiative to combine purchasing power to save money. He explained that twelve towns could combine solid waste services, salt, gravel, and other purchases. Bob saw this as a possibility to address some of these purchases with District towns in the future.
- Compost Facility Expansion Update: Bob reported that the construction was finished, and the facility was performing as designed in its first full month of processing. He is happy with the design and would like to have a software demonstration available for the Board to see at a future BOS meeting.
- Bob explained that WSWMD has a new feedstock of dead chickens for the compost facility, from Hubbard LLC in Walpole, NH. He confirmed with Hubbard and reassured the board that the birds were not dead due to disease but were culled from the flock since they were not up to proper standards. Due to the Vermont solid waste compost permit limitation of 120 cubic yards per year of meat renderings/carcasses WSWMD will only be able to process a portion of the quantity generated. Bob may investigate increasing that number if the birds work well in the composting process. He explained that he has composted birds in the past and it never harmed the compost. Dave Eastman also reported that the birds would provide phosphates and macronutrients that would be beneficial to the compost.
- Northern Borders Regional Grant: Bob reported that he had filled out the intent to apply and the pre-application for the NBR Grant for phase two of the compost facility. Although the participation may be low in Windham County, he said it was a very competitive grant, and he was not overly optimistic about getting it.
- Bob held a meeting of the compost distributors in late February at the WSWMD office where he explained the compost analysis and bioassay of seed germination, listened to their experiences with Brattlegrow Compost, and gave a tour of the new compost facility. In the meeting, he learned the distributors were interested in a 3/8” screened compost (currently the compost is screened to ½”) and also interested in selling bagged compost. Peter is shopping for an auger system with a conveyor to streamline the bagging operation, whether it is for the distributors or to be sold at WSWMD. The finer screened compost has a higher retail value and is perceived as a higher quality product. Since the demand is lower, an attempt to fill super sacks with compost for the distributors would be the first method of delivery until the market can be established and warrant its own bunker.
- Bob showed the landscaper bucket marketing tool that Alex developed. It contained a sample of BrattleGrow compost along with the analysis and some WSWMD swag. He is attempting to bring in landscapers and/or garden centers in MA since Martin’s Farm is closing and is pursuing a distributor in Massachusetts.
- Bob indicated that due to multiple flats and other tire issues with the backhoe, Anita researched and WSWMD purchased a set of Evolution Wheel tires for the front tires. She gave a brief explanation of the segmented tires and that the tires could be repaired on-site with little downtime and that they were virtually indestructible.
- Long Falls Paperboard (LFP) had asked Bob to prepare another proposal for composting their paper sludge at WSWMD. After he met with LFP on Wednesday they rejected the proposal due to cost and decided to compost it on their site and possibly hire Bob to consult and do the permitting for them. Some board members expressed their relief that WSWMD was not going to compromise its compost quality or site from potential PFAS and other unknowns in the paper sludge and it would be better off being composted on LFP property.
- Executive Session (if needed): None
- Other Business:
- Michelle read an email from a Dummerston resident who was very impressed with the Front Porch Forum posts that Alex Lacy (Outreach Coordinator) and encouraged her to do more and repeat some information throughout the year.
- Michelle reported to the BOS that the Finance Committee would be integrated into the BOS meetings and the agenda would show the merger for the April 2025 meeting. It was determined that the FC functions can be redundant, and this would be a more efficient use of time. The FC had agreed to meet separately during the budget season (August-October) and for any other special meetings that may arise.
- Michelle reminded the Board members that April is the Annual Reorganization Meeting and that there would be a long and lengthy agenda, but that attendance is important to vote.
- Bob announced that Patrick Moreland was resigning his position as Brattleboro Assistant Town Manager and that Stephen Dotson, Sustainability Coordinator, would be his tentative replacement. Bob thanked Patrick for all the years as Brattleboro’s BOS representative, as well as a respected member of the Finance Committee, and other projects such as the curbside food scrap collection program in Brattleboro. The board was very appreciative of Patrick’s service and was sad to see him go.
- Next Meeting: Thursday, April 10, 2025 @ 6 PM (Combined with the Finance Committee meeting & agenda)
- Adjournment: Patrick motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Liz, and the meeting adjourned at 7:14 PM.
Minutes prepared by,
Anita Grant
Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk