I'd been meaning to get to a meeting of the Portsmouth Solid Waste/Recycling Study Committee for some time, especially after the kefuffle at the June Town Council meeting over their advance calls to some potential bidders on the transfer station RFP. They previously met on Thursdays when I have to work late, so it wasn't until tonight, their first Wednesday meeting, when I was able to catch them in action at Town Hall.

Once we got inside, that is.

At 7pm, there were just 3 cars sitting in the rain in the Town Hall parking lot, and a dark and locked building. Committee member Judy Staven stood talking to Chair Ernie Caron, who sat in his truck, on his cell phone, calling Town Administrator Bob Driscoll. About fifteen minutes later Driscoll showed up with the Portsmouth PD to open the door.

While Driscoll fiddled with the alarm, Caron asked him, "What's a quorum?"

"You can specify it in your by-laws, but if not, it defaults to Roberts Rules of Order," said Driscoll, "Which is a simple majority."

"So, six..." Said Caron, looking around. There were four committee members out of 11 present. He got on his cell again and tried to call someone.

I have no idea of the legal status of what followed, vis á vis the RI Open Meetings law, but I identified myself as a reporter, and they sat in the Council chamber, so I stayed and took notes. They were very clear that they couldn't actually have a meeting, since they didn't have a quorum, but they decided to sit around and chat.

"If people show up, they show up," said member Bob Gessler.

"I know we can't get a report, but can we vote on minutes?" Caron asked. The general consensus was no.

The group discussed the recent pre-bid conference on the revised RFP for operating the transfer station. Staven reported that there were 3 companies there: ABC, Patriot, and Waste Management. "They asked Ernie and I some questions," said Staven. "I can't remember what."

"Goals?" Said Caron. "Recycling goals?"

"They're not goals," said Staven. "They're going to be mandated by Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRC). She described some back and forth with the vendor over tonnage and tipping fees. At one point, she said, "The Open Meeting law says you can talk about anything you want." (I'm not sure how this was germane, given that they had agreed this was not a meeting, but wev.)

There was further discussion of separating yard waste from trash and the impact on cost, especially given the smaller (35-cubic-yard) containers proposed for yard waste and the higher incremental cost of transporting them to Johnston. Then the discussion turned to the bidding process.

"I took a hit at the Council meeting because I made some phone calls," said Caron. "They were concerned about, 'What about the guy who didn't get a phone call?'"

"I only called one time to find out why companies didn't bid," said Staven.

The group looked over their agenda, searching for something to discuss.

"We could brainstorm a list of accomplishments," said Caron.

"We advised the Council on the RFP," said Gessler.

"We had the survey," said Caron.

"Right," said Staven. "And we got organized."

"We had Portsmouth Recycling Day with the Boy Scouts," added Caron.

"The survey and Portsmouth Recycles..." asked Gessler. "That's not the same thing?"

"Well," said Caron, "They happened on the same day..."

They drifted into a discussion of recyclables.

"I know a couple of Councilors want to get the recyclables out of there," said Staven, referring to the transfer station.

"The thing that bothers me is that you start putting them around town," said Caron, "It gets sloppy."

"You say, 'This is where you take paper, this is where you take cans,'" said Staven, adding that she had experience in the town she just moved back from. "That's what they do out West."

"It has to be monitored," said Caron.

"It was a big area I was in," said Staven. "They had it behind Township hall, and it was open 24 hours a day. I never saw a mess. If they can do it, why can't we?"

"They probably had more people on the DPW," suggested committee member David Gleason.

"The Boy Scouts were running it," said Staven.

"RIRC would get mad," said Gleason, pointing out recyclables are a revenue source. "In this town you need to have someone monitor it," Gleason said.

"Are we that different?" said Staven.

"Where would you suggest we put it?" asked Caron.

"Public works," said Staven, adding that it had been suggested, but, "Our administrator didn't want to hear it."

"Is there room there?" said Caron.

"There is," said Staven. "And it's close."

"If we could convince them that our footprint [at the transfer station] is tight, and put yard waste and construction debris at DPW," said Caron. "We could give it a try for four months. Those [DPW] guys go in and out of there all the time, that's an element of policing."

"It could be semi-monitored," said Staven.

"Are we tabling this until we see the new contract?" asked Gessler.

"The Town Council is opening bids on the 1st," said Caron. "On the 11th, they will approve the contract."

"Won't that be on Tuesday the 12th?" asked Gessler. "Because of the holiday?"

"VJ day," said Staven.

"No," said Gessler, "It's not called that any more..." There was a moment as they tried to remember what Victory Day is called in Rhode Island. (Hint: it's Victory Day.) They agreed that they really needed to wait until they got the contract.

"Maybe that's why nobody showed up tonight," said Staven. "Because there's nothing left to do."

"Meanwhile," lamented Caron, "Yard waste and construction debris is at its height." Seeing no further business, he asked your correspondent if he had any questions.

"About the item on the agenda," I asked, "Develop plan for education and recycling in the schools?"

"Rick Taylor is our lead on this," said Caron. "He is supposed to touch base with Lusi to see if she's amenable. We haven't had a report on that yet."

"If we can get the kids into recycling they'll put the pressure on their parents," said Gessler. "According to RIRC, schools are hit-or-miss basis, depending on whether the teachers have motivation."

"Just asking because I checked and nobody seems to have talked with anyone at the schools," I said.

"We haven't even started that yet. I don't know if Rick is really in charge," said Caron.

"I guess someone would need to go talk to Dr. Lusi," said Staven.

"We're going to be hitting her at a busy time of year," said Gessler.

"Well," said Caron, "She's got an extra $20K-a-year bonus in her pay."*

It wasn't a meeting, so it never adjourned, but it broke up about 8:30. I had to ask people to spell their names. Gessler was no problem, but I hadn't recognized the other committee member until he said, "Gleason. I'm related to ...Tailgunner."

"I figured as much," I replied, and left quietly.

Now any team can have a bad day. As I said, this was my first time there, so I have no idea if this non-productive non-meeting was representative of the usual caliber of the Solid Waste committee's discussions. As a citizen who cares passionately about recycling, and whose son has tried to launch a recycling program at Hathaway twice, I really, really hope not.

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* Update: It has come to my attention that not everyone realizes this is a misstatement. The actual number, as reported in the Providence Journal, is an increase in base salary of $8, 867 plus standard "advanced degree" compensation of $4,550.