Bourne Town Hall
BOURNE – Bourne will leave the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station agreement with Sandwich, Mashpee and Falmouth by the end of the year.
The program utilizes a rail line at Joint Base Cape Cod to haul household trash and construction debris to off-Cape processing facilities.
The transfer station facility was established in the late 1980’s, but Bourne has only been part of the program since 1996.
General Manager of Bourne’s Integrated Solid Waste Facility Dan Barrett said leaving the agreement is the financially responsible thing to do for the town’s residents, since the town has expanded its own waste services and largely no longer needs the facilities provided by the agreement.
“The facility is a little bit older down there. They’re going to need to probably make some capital improvements on it which would then be put back on the towns to pay off. It just seems like a good time to try to end our involvement down there,” said Barrett.
He said that the program has been largely serving as a back-up for the town’s own waste disposal services, but even that need is winding down.
He added that contracts will have to be renegotiated soon with the facility’s hauler, and it made the most sense for the other three towns primarily using the service to plan its future.
“If we were to stay on the board, then we would be part of that negotiation, which we really don’t need to be. If we waited until the 31st, then we would have been part of that negotiation,” said Barrett.
“So it was just a matter of making things a little bit easier and a little bit smoother for everybody to get out a little bit sooner.”
Bourne will continue to offer its disposal resources to other towns even after leaving the agreement, including for storm-debris processing.
About Grady Culhane
