Introducing Reading Votes | Microchipped Trash?!

Welcome to Reading Votes: The Common-Sense Voter Project We’re your local civic outreach group dedicated to informing and rallying Reading, MA voters.  State and national politics can be incredibly frustrating and hard to influence. Do not despair: Local is where it’s at! A small number of people WILL make a big impact in this town if we stay informed and take action. Votes are incredibly close and swayed by a few people. That’s where you come in. We know you don’t have time to attend every town meeting, translate policy orders into plain English, or scrutinize every line item in the budget. That’s why we promise to deliver straight-to-the-point, fact-based summaries of school and town issues, spending plans, tax increases, and topics that will affect your life and pocketbook. You will be informed and armed to take action to improve our beloved town. Stay tuned for regular communication, action alerts, and ways to get involved and connected in real life. Please share this with your common-sense contacts in Reading too!

Drastic Overhaul of Trash and Recycling Proposed

Some recurring themes in the new world order are renting instead of owning—you’ll own nothing and be happy!—and digital surveillance of, well, everything. The Town of Reading is proposing a new trash scheme that is totally on brand with the agenda. The Town plans to re-imagine trash and recycling in Reading by spending $900,000 on standardized trash cans with microchips (yes, really) and implementing a new fee system that will affect your pocketbook. This is up for a vote at the Town Meeting in November. What you need to know The trash disposal and collection contracts are expiring in FY25 and FY26, respectively, with large cost increases expected: over $1 million. Trash collection companies are not expected to offer manual pickup in any new contract; it will be automated. You’ll be limited to  64 gallons of trash per week, in a single town-owned trash barrel, down from the 120 gallons (3 to 4 barrels) we enjoy today. Have a large family? You must lease an additional barrel from the town ($200/year) and/or purchase special “overflow bags” from the town. New mandated trash barrels contain RFID chips, which can be used to monitor the amount of your trash. All trash companies today promote the use of RFID chips to implement a fee per household, Pay-as-you throw (PAYT) billing system. While automated trash collection and increased fees are unavoidable, there are alternative and better paths beyond what the Town proposes. What you can do Attend the forum meeting on Tuesday, September 19. (We’ll also send a recap.)

• Send an email/letter to the town manager and Select Board. Below is a template you can use. Send to: selectboard@ci.reading.ma.us.  Be sure to include your name and address in any correspondence.

 
Dear Town Manager and Select Board:
 
I support the move to automated trash and recycling collection and recognize that the upcoming contract negotiations will most likely result in increased costs to the town.  I am not in support of the proposed policy (barrel leases) to address these increased costs or impose additional limitations on trash collection.  I am asking that you consider keeping the cost of trash collection and disposal within the levy and not institute any trash fees, which may include asking residents for a limited operational override to cover increased costs. I ask that you allow residents to use their own trash (no RFID chip) and recycling barrels that are subject to meeting the selected trash collection contractor’s automated equipment. 

Sincerely,
Your name and address