The missing ballot: How to vote on Chittenden County's $22M recycling question
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include the fact that the new facility would be paid for with CSWD revenue.
Chittenden County voters may be missing a critical item from the general election ballots they recently received in the mail. The Chittenden Solid Waste District's new sorting center for recyclables, which is up for a vote on Nov. 8, wasn't on the ballots that were automatically sent to all registered voters.
The vote pertains to a $22 million bond for a new Materials Recovery Facility designed to streamline Chittenden County's recycling efforts. However, that question was not eligible to be mailed automatically to voters.
If you are choosing to vote by mail, you need to request the CSWD ballot separately.
How to vote on the recycling center
Chittenden Solid Waste District's Michele Morris explained in an email why voters may not see the CSWD ballot item.
Act 60, which passed last year, requires the state to send November general election ballots to all registered voters in Vermont; however, the law excludes municipal districts like CSWD.
"We have had several discussions with the Secretary of State’s office and unfortunately the law does not allow municipal districts such as the Chittenden Solid Waste District, to mail local election questions as part of the general election ballot or separately," Morris wrote. "This means that CSWD, the State and the towns, villages and cities may not mail the special election question/ballots to all voters. The special election ballot may be mailed only if requested by the voter."
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There are several ways to receive the CSWD ballot and vote on the item.
For those voting in person on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, you can pick up a separate CSWD ballot along with the general election ballot while at the polls.
If you prefer to have a ballot in advance of election day, you can either pick one up in person at your town clerk or city manager's office, or you can request one by mail from the Secretary of State's office.
Online you can go to the Secretary of State site at https://mvp.vermont.gov/, sign in and then go to "My Voter Page." Choose "Click Here for Online Absentee Ballot Request" and then check the box that says "11/08/22 – 2022 CSWD BOND VOTE."
About the Materials Recovery Facility project
Voters are being asked to approve the $22 million bond to finance the Materials Recovery Facility proposed by Chittenden Solid Waste District. While residents can approve the expenditure, they will not be responsible for paying it. The money for the project would come from CSWD revenue.
CSWD explained on its website that the nearly 30-year-old Williston facility is outdated and inefficient.
"This outdated MRF has us stuck in the 20th century, limiting what Vermonters can recycle and falling behind the demands of modern packaging," the site reads. "CSWD is proposing to build a new, more efficient and effective MRF that will provide extensive environmental benefits and affordable, in-state processing for Vermonters’ recycling for decades to come."
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The new facility promises to keep more recyclables out the landfill, improve hand-sorting tasks and working area conditions as well as manage greater volume and diversity of products. It would be able to handle 70,000 tons of recycling each year, which is about 50% more than it can accommodate currently. In addition, the center could save 634,000 trees and 28 million gallons of gas each year, according to CSWD.
If approved, construction on the new Materials Recovery Facility could begin in November of 2023 on Redmond Road in Williston, 2.6 miles from the current facility. Estimated completion for the project is July 2025.
More information is available at https://cswd.net/mrf-bond-2/.
Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: CSWD recycling sorting facility: How to request a ballot and vote
