Paul Bass File Photo
Back in the earth instead of the trash: Anthony Perry shovels compost for use in Dixwell community garden.
Thomas Breen Photo
Alder Winter: Save money, planet.
Is it time for a third trash toter?That idea — for having the city give residents composting bins for organic trash like vegetable scraps to put out for their weekly curbside pick-ups, in addition to blue general-trash toters and blue recycling bins — was among ideas floated at a hearing on how to make the city cleaner and greener.
The online workshop was held online Thursday night by the Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy Committee.
The topic at hand: How to get a better handle on litter throughout town and improve the way city government handles refuse collection.
The committee heard from members of the Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) about the need to have more local awareness and enforcement of litter, proper recycling, and costly trash waste.
The compost bin idea was proposed by Newhallville/Dixwell/Prospect Hill Alder Steve Winter. He floated the idea after hearing Executive Director of The New Haven Solid Waste and Recycling Authority Pierre Barbour talk about the expensive tipping fees the city pays for the tons of organic material disposed of in the trash.
Separating the organic material from the trash is near impossible, said Barbour. Thus the idea of separating out the organic waste.
Green infrastructure advocate Lynne Bonnett reported that organic refuse makes up 40 percent of local waste.
Barbour reported that tipping fees, which are measured by weight for trash, cost $92 per ton and $45 per ton for recyclables. That’s a lot to pay for organics that could break down and return to the earth to support new growth.
The town of Southington, for instance, sends separately gathered organic waste to an “anaerobic digester,” which converts it into biogas.
Barbour said the cost would be significantly less to dispose organic material to an anaerobic digester compared to paying tipping fees for trash by the ton. The use of an anaerobic digester could even possibly offer a rebate, he said.
“Everything is trending for things becoming a lot more expensive for all,” Barbour said.
Other Ideas For A Cleaner, Greener City
Rebecca Bombero: We should do another youth environmental art contest.
Also at the hearing, city Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Bombero proposed a partnership with EAC for an environmental poster contest for youth this upcoming school year. The contest would aim to educate youth about recycling. New Haven, like cities across the country, collects a lot of “recycling” in bins that can’t be recycled because confused or uninformed residents throw in nonrecyclable trash as well, rendering the entire bunch no good for recycling.
“Unfortunately, when we get dirty pulls, and there’s a lot of contamination in recycling, it defeats the purpose, because the load is no longer valuable as recyclables,” she said.
Bombero showed the committee an example of a poster made five years ago for the last environmental poster contest, for which West Hills Alder Honda Smith was a judge.
“When the young people hear about recycling, they take these things home,” said Smith.
Bombero said the city is also working to bring back warning tickets that will get posted on waste bins when they have contaminated recycling.
“I feel like there is a lot that the city can do to start to take the lead on consistent recycling and consistent composting at events,” Winter added.
The committee also discussed the need for more enforcement with illegal dumping.
To tackle illegal dumping, Winter proposed that the process for bulk trash appointments be made digital for residents to provide proof of identity and residency via email and not only in person.
Winter proposed ring cameras be put in areas with school wifi zones to monitor areas where people regularly dump illegal trash.
Traffic Calming Advances
Thursday’s hearing also dealt with city efforts to calm traffic on major commercial thoroughfares in town.
The committee voted unanimously in support of having the mayor sign project authorization letters for specific projects the city has been crafting with residents around town, some of which are slotted to begin as soon as next year. The authorization letter with allow the city to receive the state funds for the projects.
So far infrastructure improvements for complete streets and road safety will include projects on Lighthouse Road, South Frontage Road, Quinnipiac Avenue, Valley Street, Whalley Avenue, Whitney Avenue, and York Street.
City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said he plans to file a second batch of major corridors throughout the city that also need improving, including Dixwell Avenue, Grand Avenue, and State Street.
The projects will use $14.3 million of state funding from the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP) to cover construction costs. The city will pay to fund an estimated $250,000 for the design cost of the projects. The city will use a “mix of its own resources and external” consultant help for designing, Zinn told the alders.
From city traffic-calming presentation to Lighthouse Road neighbors.
The seven corridors each went through an initial community input meeting with the city’s Engineering Department and Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department and the respective neighborhood alders to discuss what improvements residents in the areas want to see. Click here to read about the Lighthouse Road meeting, here about the Valley Street meeting.
The city team is currently putting together improvement deigns for each of the projects. Next they will present the deigns to the neighbors again and get feedback. Then the city would need to finalize a design and get approvals from the state and the local traffic authority.
Depending on the designing process, Zinn estimated some of the projects will begin simultaneously next year. Others will start two years from now.
The Valley Street improvement plan will occur soonest and will last for about four or five months, Zinn estimated. The Whalley Avenue project will be much larger and need more design efforts he said.
Zinn and his team plan to return to Valley Street and Whitney Avenue residents by the end of this month to discuss design proposals.
The committee also voted unanimously in support of authorizing Zinn’s project plan to install four new short sidewalk stretches throughout the city. The project was filed by the city Resources Allocation Committee.
Installations will include dirt path stretches in need of sidewalks on the south side of Ford Street, Sherman parkway, Exchange Street nearing Haven Street, and Emerson Street nearing Valley Street.
Zinn estimated the cost to be about $25,000.
Vice Chair and Morris Cove Alder Salvatore DeCola asked that notice be given to private property occupants in front of each new sidewalk stretch informing them of their responsibility to clear the sidewalk.
As a gardener, I do compost. My issue is the spring and autumn yard cleanup with the excessive shrubby debris. It's so hard to shred and chop! Perhaps the plan could include a drop-off for these materials (not tree stumps or anything too big!). That would balance out the "greens" and "browns" of a good compost pile.