Preliminary Results of the Curbside Recycling Survey

For whatever you might get out of it, here are the survey results as of 5pm. The 350 emails I sent to Hartford folks got 89 responses, the survey I posted on the QLLA list (another 300 participants) got 42 responses. This is today’s result, it’ll be interesting to see how it goes over the course of the next week since I encouraged people to pass it along to friends.

Comments:

Please look into other health insurance alternatives for the town of hartford employees. Please make cuts where possible within each village that makes up the town.

1/8/2013 4:47 PMView Responses

Recycling is good for the town, the residents, and the evironment. Please keep it.

1/8/2013 4:04 PMView Responses

I take my trash to the Landfill, curb-side program very convenient but if cancelled I would take recycling to landfill with my trash…

1/8/2013 3:15 PMView Responses

yea make the overpaid teachers pay there own health insurance like the rest of us

1/8/2013 3:13 PMView Responses

Remove the town manager. Mismanagement and cronyism are in part the reason for higher taxes and contrentious meetings.

1/8/2013 3:10 PMView Responses

I live at Woodhaven condos and we have zero-sort recycling, which I understand is more expensive. I can’t imagine what Woodhaven would be like without recycling. However, WE PAY for our recycling pick-up I believe. Please don’t kill the recycling program. It makes it so easy to do the right thing for the planet.

1/8/2013 3:06 PMView Responses

Please help stop the onslaught of horrible zoning and planning decisions being made for Quechee. The recent approvals of development are an absolute disgrace to the fabric of our town and will surely threaten our community as a whole. Its 2013, strip malls are dead.

1/8/2013 2:52 PMView Responses

People will be less willing to recycle if they have to make more effort or pay, so recyclables will end up in landfills – not a direction Vermont should be going in. It is an important program, please do not “kill it”.

1/8/2013 2:26 PMView Responses

Please keep things simple if at all possible.

1/8/2013 2:25 PMView Responses

There is too much being proposed for the next budget. Athletic improvements OR redoing the Municipal Building. By the way, the building is old, structurally weak, on a flood plain, may have some unpleasant surprises when the walls are ripped out, doesn’t have a security system at the entrance(s), etc. We should tear it down and build something practical.

1/8/2013 2:21 PMView Responses

When recycling started I thought we were told that that it would pay for itself??!!

1/8/2013 2:16 PMView Responses

let’s stay green….plus if you have to pay to have recycling picked up why not just pay the $ money in the taxes. Either way we will be forking out $$$

1/8/2013 1:54 PMView Responses

I don’t use curbside recycling because I am able to do it myself as needed, however I feel this is a nice service to provide those who cannot do it themselves.

1/8/2013 1:28 PMView Responses

If we “kill” this program, people will stop recycling will result in landfill shortage and ultimately cost more tax dollars.

1/8/2013 1:21 PMView Responses

I think there should be more education for the residents of Hartford about recycling. We seem to have a very strong recreation program, but not much to teach people about other programs. I’m not sure what would be most effective, but the town web site does not provide a list of what is taken for recycling at the transfer station or what to do with items that are not taken. It makes sense to provide the best information possible. This would be the least expensive method of providing information, though perhaps not the most effective. Then put out a news blast that you’ve updated the recycling page of the town web site with great, new information.

1/8/2013 1:18 PMView Responses

We are sad to see this recycling program stopped – it is a convienence to us to have it. Having the curb site is very handy for us to use – especially our older population.

1/8/2013 1:18 PMView Responses

See above

1/8/2013 1:16 PMView Responses

Since property values in Quechee have declined, does that mean that property values in all the villages of Hartford have declined? If not, why not? Also, what should individual homeowners do to ensure that their current property value is properly assessed?

1/8/2013 1:14 PMView Responses

I appreciate the sensitivity to keep tax increases to a minimum but I also appreciate not being penny wise and dollar foolish. Thanks!

1/8/2013 1:03 PMView Responses

I’d be happy to help evaluate the options for trash/recycling

1/8/2013 1:00 PMView Responses

If yo you do discontinue the recycling I’m sure a lot of what was recycled will end up in the trash. I think town employees should pay a higher percentage of their health insurance to off set the increase in premiums. I have no sympathy for them because although my employer offers a health insurance plan they do not contribute so employees pay 100% of premium.

1/8/2013 12:57 AMView Responses

Please do not end this program. I live in Chambers Park and almost everyone recylies, also people that might not have cars

1/8/2013 12:56 AMView Responses

Having served on the Board for many years in the past, I am sure there are other line items that can be looked at to find needed money.

1/8/2013 12:50 AMView Responses

Thanks for setting up the survey and thanks to the selectboard for all of your work.

1/8/2013 12:41 AMView Responses

We use this program twice a month and find it very helpful in promoting the importance of recycling.

1/8/2013 12:25 AMView Responses

We need to keep a chief of police, we don’t need a public safety director and its additional cost, without a police chief especially with the accounting of expenses and income being as fuzzy as presented at the last selectboard budget meeting with the fire dept. budget being explained.

1/8/2013 12:18 AMView Responses

Maybe there should be more information put out again how easy the curbside recycling is for residents. Not much information has been put out since the program began in the very early 90’s. This would make it more user friendly. What benefits our town gains.

1/8/2013 12:17 AMView Responses

Great idea to have a survey like this – keep up the good work!

1/8/2013 12:10 AMView Responses

I am concerned that if the recycling stops, people will not recycle as much.

1/8/2013 11:55 AMView Responses

As noted above, I am very much in favor of continuing the curbside single sort recycling program. A few years ago the select board tried to eliminate curbside recycling and the public objected. It was put to a separate vote and the community voted to keep the recycling program. I would like us to continue the program and to have single sort curbside and at the transfer station. If you eliminate the program the volume of trash will go up and this is not what we should be doing. Think of the environment and future generations.

1/8/2013 11:41 AMView Responses

Have town and school employees pay a bigger portion of their health care as we, private sector, do.

1/8/2013 11:27 AMView Responses

The Town should continue Curbside recycling — let’s not take any steps backwards; we compete for residents with Hanover & Lebanon.

1/8/2013 11:04 AMView Responses

Still keep taxes low, though, please. We are hurting with these new tax increases already.

1/8/2013 11:04 AMView Responses

I wonder about potential bias in this survey. Who are the respondents? How were emails acquired? Are the people receiving this survey representative of the entire population – especially, the poor, uneducated, elderly – who may be the very populations that do NOT recycle. Perhaps Cassella has some data -or could acquire over the course of a month – on the number of houses that recycle? But, beware – Cassella does not offer curbside recycling for the entire town (despite what the Public Works Dept and Cassella may claim). The Section 8 housing in Sunrise has never had curbside recycling; residents there who wish to recycle take their trash to a location on Sunrise Circle. This is done, ostensibly because the roads are too narrow in the Section 8 development for the recycling truck. You have to wonder, then, if a recycling truck can’t negotiate the roads – can a fire truck?

1/8/2013 11:00 AMView Responses

Thanks for your work and your presentation last night at HHS.

1/8/2013 10:57 AMView Responses

It also bothers me that we are considering cutting basic services like this at the same time that we are being asked to support two separate bond issues totally another 12-13 million. That is kind of like me dropping my newspaper subscription in order to buy a brand new car or take a tropical vacation. If I can’t afford my basic and necessary expenses, should I really be considering these other items? Even if we “need” them, even if interest rates are low???

1/8/2013 10:56 AMView Responses

How did such a generous benefit package get passed for the teachers?

1/8/2013 10:56 AMView Responses

This is one of the most important services the Town provides. It’s been around for at least two decades and has changed the culture of those residents who take advantage of the program. If only half of us use the service, we should create more awareness of its benefits, not ditch the program altogether. $150,000 is a small price to pay for such an important program and eliminating it would be a huge step backwards. Goodness gracious, this is a no-brainer as far as I am concerned.

1/8/2013 10:52 AMView Responses

This is not the area that you need to be looking at for budget cuts.

1/8/2013 10:49 AMView Responses

Discontinuing the recycling program would be a big step back for the town.

1/8/2013 10:46 AMView Responses

Keep up the good work. I read the editorial in the Valley News complaining about the “lack of transparency” regarding the Department of Public Safety idea, where one person would oversee both the police and fire departments. Maybe if the paper did a better job covering the selectboard meetings they would not have been caught off guard by this idea.

1/8/2013 10:45 AMView Responses

I am extremely concerned by the way the town makes decisions for renovations and work done within the town. We should have a bidding process. They way things happen now appears to involve shady dealing.

1/8/2013 10:44 AMView Responses

I fear that eliminating a convenient way to recycle will cause much more material NOT to be recycled. Many folks can’t/won’t go to the recycling center regularly to do this.

1/8/2013 10:39 AMView Responses

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