Transfer Station Fees Approved

It's official: a fee schedule will be implemented at the Hamden Transfer Station.

Last week  at its regular monthly meeting Monday. But town officials said it's likely to not affect residents much at all.

"By design, it will affect businesses," Chief Administrative Officer Curt Balzano Leng said. "It's not going to affect residents as much."

That's because residents will still have the opportunity to put items out twice a year in April and October for the town's bulk pickups, he said. In addition, things like compost and recyclables are still free at the station, he said.

It's going to take one to two months to implement the fees, Leng said, because a credit card and personal check verification machines need to be installed. Cash will not be accepted at the station, but residents can purchase vouchers at the Hamden Government Center if they would rather not use a debit or credit card.

It also will take some time to get cameras in place to monitor the perimeter of the station that would catch anyone illegally dumping, he said, which already is an ongoing problem.

"Just about every Monday morning we are greeted at the gates by a pile of tires," he said. Under the fee schedule, a fee will be charged for tires up to 20"; those larger will no longer be accepted because it's too expensive to get rid of them.

The purpose of the fees is to recoup some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars it cost the town to dispose of the items dumped at the station, Public Works Director Craig Cesare said. 

"The largest problem we encounter are contractors who have a driver's license with a Hamden address] who com in with pickup trucks filled up," he said. The contractors charge customers to haul away brush and other items and then dump them for free at the Transfer Station, leaving the cost to dispose of the items to the town.

He has seen instances where trucks have come to the station after picking up debris and items in New Haven, he said. That is the kind of customer from whom they are trying to recoup their costs, he said.

"This is a massive expense to the town," Cesare said. "It is not designed to hurt the average person."

But council member Harry Gagliardi expressed doubts that it wouldn't hurt residents.

"I still have concerns," he said. "There are a lot of people on fixed incomes and who have lost their jobs, and yes we have the bulk pickup twice a year but between those times they are going to have to have items sitting in garages."

Anyone who receives state assistance should be exempt from the fees, Gagliardi said.

"I'm concerned about trying to collect money from people who don't have money," he said.

The Public Works Department will work with anyone who has a problem with the fees, Cesare said.

"We can work with some on an individual basis," he said, "and if someone is in need and misses the bulk pickups we will work with them."

He has personally gone to homes of seniors and removed items, Cesare said, though, he added, it's not possible to do that on a widespread basis.