Truck traffic on Ayer Road was once again on the minds of the Harvard Board of Selectmen (BOS) as the owner of a construction waste and household trash recycling center at Devens sought for a second time to win their backing for permission to operate on Saturdays.
The topic was one of more than a dozen considered at a decidedly low-key biweekly meeting of the selectmen this week, who took their seats tanned and relaxed as the post-Labor Day rush of late nights and budgets nears.
Two weeks ago the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) voted 5-2 to deny a request of the Devens Recycling Center, a privately owned business on Independence Drive at Devens, to operate its waste processing facility on Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m., a period not allowed under their current permit. The additional hours were opposed by Devens residents, who complained of odors from the plant, the risk of an exploding Norwegian rat population, and the dangers of trash trucks they said sped through their neighborhoods and threatened their children.
At its Aug. 3 meeting, the BOS sided with the Devens residents, most of whom live within the historic boundaries of the town of Harvard, and voted 3-0 to send a letter to the DEC opposing the DRC request. Selectwoman Marie Sobalvarro abstained from that vote, arguing that the BOS needed more time to assess the facts. Selectman Tim Clark was absent.
“Unfortunately, it’s the waste industry, and it’s easy to shoot at it … and it’s easy to scare people on things that aren’t true,” said Kurt McNamara, the owner of the plant, on Tuesday evening. McNamara wants the BOS to reverse itself and support his request that the DEC reconsider its ruling and grant DRC permission to operate on Saturdays. “It was the [last] thing I thought we’d run into … a buzz saw as to hours of operation.”
To make his case that DRC had been inaccurately portrayed, McNamara submitted letters from Tech Environmental, the firm hired by DEC to monitor DRC odors, and from Flynn Pest Control, the company DRC uses to control rats. In an Aug. 12 letter to DRC, Flynn Pest Control President Alan Bliss wrote that there had “never been an outbreak of rodents on the exterior of the property.” “If I were to rank your facility among the [15] that we service,” wrote Bliss, “I would place [DRC] with those with the least problems.”
Although the DEC as the de facto Board of Health at Devens is responsible for conducting independent inspections of the facility, it apparently has never done so. At a previous meeting, the DEC staff had claimed that the Nashoba Boards of Health were under contract to provide that service, but this was apparently not the case. The Press was unable to confirm in time for this edition whether Nashoba has since been signed to do the work or has conducted an inspection.
Regarding odors, in a letter dated Aug. 11, Michael Lannon of Tech Environmental wrote that his company, which conducts quarterly odor assessments of the DRC on behalf of the DEC, had found “no nuisance odors off-site,” a condition that “to our knowledge” has remained true since DRC began handling municipal garbage.
But in spite of these fresh assurances of good faith from McNamara, the issue for Harvard and the BOS remains whether DRC is adequately controlling trucks headed to and from its facility. Its license requires that such traffic enter and exit Devens using Saratoga and Jackson Roads, which connect directly to Route 2. But Harvard residents on Ayer Road have complained for months that trucks are cutting through Harvard on Route 110 from Route 2 to the Ayer Circle, or vice versa, contributing to the steadily growing flow of truck traffic on that road. Under its permit, DRC is responsible for ensuring that trucks that use its facility play by the rules.
McNamara produced a letter sent to DRC customers on Aug. 11 which noted complaints that trucks were using “alternate routes” and asked them to stop doing so. “We want to stress,” the letter said, “that this is a violation of our permits and your disposal contracts.” The letter included a map depicting the correct routes for waste trucks to follow, but threatened no penalties. McNamara said that since issuing the letter and map, his personal monitoring showed that only “three out of one hundred” trucks had violated the rule.
BOS Chairman Peter Warren said he thought conditions had improved. “Prior to the [BOS and DEC hearings] the trash vehicles went mostly through Harvard,” he said. “But all of a sudden, it stopped. So obviously, there was an issue, in my opinion. Whatever happened after that hearing, worked very well ... The trash truck traffic, whatever you want to call it, has improved dramatically since the hearing. That’s a very good sign and bodes well.”
“I don’t want to tell you … how to run your business,” added selectman Ron Ricci, “but if I were in your shoes I’d keep that going and I’d reach out in the next several months to the directly affected residents ....”
Sobalvarro said that while she welcomed McNamara’s appearance before the BOS, she hoped he would provide some leadership in reducing truck traffic through Harvard. She noted that although the permits issued to Devens-based companies require them to join a Transportation Management Association, that group does not exist.
- Approved a plan by the Municipal Building Committee (MBC) to test the feasibility of using the old library building as a community center. Under the plan, the so-called “fireplace room” would be reserved for official town board meetings, while the remaining space would be opened to local cultural and other groups that wished to use it. The experiment would last six months, and would provide the MBC with concrete data in time for the Annual Town Meeting.
- Approved the transfer of $5,000 from the Rantoul Fund to the Elderly and Disabled Fund to pay the town’s Senior Tax Relief program.
- Approved the request by Harvard resident Mike Girard to hold a longboard competition this Saturday, Aug. 21, on Old Littleton Road, from Pinnacle Road to the center of town. Girard estimates about 50 competitors will attend. Police and EMT details will be on hand.
The Board of Selectmen next meets Tuesday, Sept. 7, the day after Labor Day.