Board of Health Renews Support for Waste Reduction Proposal and Questions Delays

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Board of Health, August 7, 2025

The meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Risha Hess (Chair), Premila Nair, Jack Jemsek, and Betsy Brooks
Staff: Kiko Malin (Director of Public Health), Maheen Ahmed (Program Assistant),

Town Council Liaison: Pat DeAngelis
Town Councilor sponsors of the Waste Reduction Proposal: Jennifer Taub (District 4), Andy Steinberg (at large)

The board received six public comments regarding the town’s Waste Hauler Bylaw Proposal. Jill Medina Elizalde and Madeleine Charney spoke on behalf of Mothers Out Front, Greater Amherst, stating support for the proposal. They said, “Reducing our food waste, composting locally and using that compost as a rich soil amendment, or ‘black gold’, are vital components of a resilient food system… Opt-in programs like voluntary backyard composting or voluntary curbside pick up are great, they make only a small dent in reducing waste. We need a program of universal curbside compost pick up, paired with a local compost processing facility that would result in significant waste reduction worthy of this progressive town’s values. Let’s move on this now, while interest is high with many organizations on board and expecting progress now.” 

Councilor Andy Steinberg, co-sponsor of the waste reduction bylaw proposal, said he was very interested in the Board of Health providing support for the proposal. He outlined the three main goals: to make compost pick up universally available, to have a pay as you throw system to give an incentive for residents to reduce waste, and to change to a contract system with the private haulers. 

John Gerber, Professor of Sustainable Food and Farming at UMass, said that he found it disturbing that the proposal has taken so long to implement and that “if we are going to effectively deal with solid waste in a cost-effective manner, we must provide community-based solutions”. Gerber said “ I’ve been waiting for the town to implement the “pay as you throw” plan for several years. I hope the Board of Health can motivate our Town Council to finally take the appropriate action.”

Amherst resident Adrienne Terrizzi, wrote: “I applaud the support of the Waste Reduction Proposal by a previous incarnation of your Committee and urge that you reaffirm it again tonight, followed by an urgent request to the Town Council and Town Manager, where this proposal has languished. As senior citizens and as 55 year Amherst residents, we fail to understand why this important climate initiative for reducing energy consumption, reducing waste and emissions, and environmental and carbon sequestration strategies haven’t yet been implemented, especially in light of the current renderings at the federal level. “

Polly Peterson and Louise Grossman wrote on behalf of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst. They stated: “Reducing waste is an important element in creating a more sustainable environment for our community (and our planet!) into the future… Curbside composting not only contributes to a reduction in the quantity of waste overall, but at the same time provides a useful resource that can be used to feed plants or improve degraded land. The other big change in the proposal is a “pay-as-you-throw” fee structure, which would encourage recycling, resulting in savings for residents who discard less trash. In other towns, this has led to a significant reduction in the amount of trash generated. Apparently, Town Council authorized expenses for hiring a consultant who would request RFP’s from trash haulers last August. We are surprised this has not yet resulted in any action. We urge the Board of Health to join us in supporting the Zero Waste Amherst proposal.”

The Board reviewed the last meeting’s agreement that they still support the proposal. Chair Risha Hess reviewed the three components of the proposal. She said the goal for this meeting was to get an update from Town Council sponsors and an idea of how the Board can support the proposal.

Betsy Brooks asked if any of the three components are severable based on cost.

Andy Steinberg introduced himself as the Chair of the Town Services and Outreach (TSO) Committee, where the proposal was referred and still resides. On the question of severability, Steinberg said he has gotten information from the Mass Municipal Association that all of the pieces are essential. Most towns save money by changing to a contract system. 

Steinberg said the TSO recommendation to the council, which the council endorsed, was for the town to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide an opportunity to haulers to provide bids as to how much they would charge for the services requested. Determining the feasibility of the proposal is already part of the town manager goals and the town has money included in the budget for a consultant to assist staff in formulating the RFP. 

Steinberg said that a month ago, the town manager reported to TSO that he had made a few attempts and has not found an immediately available consultant. The manager is continuing to work to get that RFP. The consultant will help with specifics. “We aren’t happy that the manager hasn’t found a consultant, and that the current staff don’t have the time to handle it,” Steinberg said. He hoped the proposal could reach a conclusion before the end of this council term. He added that support from the BOH would be helpful. 

Steinberg noted that the budget is tight, but the town might be able to come up with funds to work on the transition. The service will need to be through an enterprise fund, “We want savings for homeowners,” he said. “The current vendor doesn’t provide incentives for folks needing smaller bins.”

Board member Premila Nair asked why the town has been unable to find a consultant. “How can we get unstuck?” Other members suggested the BOH help with consultant referrals.

Steinberg said, “It’s a complex process”, noting a long RFP used by East Longmeadow. He said the BOH could help with consultant referral. 

Jennifer Taub, another council co-sponsor of the proposal and member of TSO stated that the proposal was already a town manager goal and that the council has appropriated money to hire the consultant. TSO specifically requested that the consultant be retained and that the RFP go out.

Health Director Kiko Malin noted that the Board of Health has the authority to require universal composting via its regulations.

Board Chair Risha Hess suggested another potential amendment to the BOH regulations. She referred to a conversation with Darcy DuMont of Zero Waste Amherst who stated that the DPH regulations already require a “pay as you throw” system but do not require that the system be “proportional”. The Board could add that language to the regulations.

Steinberg warned about the economics of the trash hauling system. “The fixed costs are significant. Amending the regulations is something that needs to be done with care so you don’t have regs that no vendor will go along with,” he said.

Brooks also suggested that the board find a consultant that it could refer to the Town Manager.

Nair added that “there needs to be more transparency. Maybe there are other town committees that could contribute suggestions.” She said she is frustrated that the Board of Health sent a letter well over a year ago, and has received no feedback. “Now we have updates from Andy (Steinberg) and Jennifer (Taub), but it seems important to move this forward. To have it stuck in limbo with no path forward is concerning.”

Taub suggested that the board invite the Town Manager to a BOH meeting.

Board member Jack Jemsek, who represents Amherst on the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, will ask the commission for ideas on consultants. 

The Board ended its discussion by agreeing to send a letter of renewed support for the waste hauler proposal to the Town Council and to seek ideas for consultants to refer to the Town Manager.