Portsmouth residents want transfer station open every day. Here's what the town says.

PORTSMOUTH – Residents packed the high school auditorium and sent a resounding message to Town Council members: Do not close the transfer station.

Council Chairman Kevin Aguiar and other officials responded that there is no plan to close the station, which is contracted to stay open for nearly two more years until June 30, 2025.

Councilors said they are simply looking for a request for proposals for a vendor to conduct curbside trash removal. They are also looking to send out an RFP that would consider maintaining the transfer station two days a week for bulky items only such as refrigerators, mattresses and other big articles. The former has been called Option A and the latter has been called Option B.

At the end of the meeting, which took more than three hours, the council voted 6-0 on Option B.

But before that vote, many residents stepped up to the microphone and asked for a third option – keeping the transfer station open as it is.

“There has to be an Option C,” said Bob Collins, of Miller Lane.

Nancy Zitka, of Chafer Drive, also asked for an Option C. She said that she owns a large parcel and brings several bags of yard waste regularly to the transfer station.

Other residents mentioned the town’s agricultural roots and long driveways.

Wheeling out large barrels weekly would be a burden for many with longer driveways, as well as for the elderly.

They mentioned that curbside collection works in suburban and urban areas but not so much in the rural sections of town.

Other residents questioned statistics that state that only around 2,200 households out of 7,000 use the transfer station – or less than 33%.

Some have mentioned that trailer parks, apartment complexes and other non-single-family homes rely on a different method of waste collection within their respective communities. If those residents are not factored into the equation, officials might discover that the transfer station’s user percentage is higher than what officials are estimating, according to some transfer station proponents

Others mentioned that the town has some of the highest recycling rates in the state thanks to the transfer station

Collins and other residents said that the issue represents a loss of control for taxpayers and other residents. Collins then steered the conversation toward how some residents have been forced to upgrade their cesspools to more modernized systems.

Aguiar said that the state Department of Environmental Management mandated that all Rhode Island residents with old septic systems.

Still, Collins and others made the point that residents should have a greater say with the transfer station issue. Collins also mentioned how some residents were forced to a different electric rate/carrier and how the town relies on one cable system.

“It seems like we’re losing every time we turn around,” Collins said. “I think a lot of people feel the same way.”

Paul Fredette, of Ethel Drive, called closing the transfer station or reducing its hours “un-American.”

In fact, he said any councilor who would work to close it down would not get reelected. He mocked the notion of some calling the transfer station an antiquated system.

“Something that works for a long time is not called antiquated; it's called effective,” Fredette said.

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In March of this year, the town’s Department of Public Works, with a consultant, conducted a cost analysis and learned that it would cost an estimated $234,000 annually to keep the transfer station open a few days a week.

According to the website, the transfer station is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Friday and Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

If Option B came to fruition, those hours would be reduced to Thursdays from noon to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

DPW Director Brian Woodhead questioned the financial logistics of a full-time transfer station. Councilors said a survey was sent out in the spring to collect input from residents.

Many residents at Monday’s meeting said they were not aware of this survey

In May, councilors decided on putting together an RFP for full-time curbside pickup or curbside pickup with the transfer station open only for curbside recycling.

Aguiar said a public hearing was conducted on the matter.

He stressed throughout the evening that the RFP is more for informational purposes only.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Portsmouth transfer station: Council OKs reduced hours, limited items