York businesses, residents clash over carry-in, carry-out trash
YORK, Maine — Town officials will look for new ways to address trash at Short Sands Beach after residents expressed concern about a lack of waste receptacles.
Business owners and residents packed the Selectboard meeting Monday, Sept. 25, for a public hearing on the town’s carry-in, carry-out trash policy. It began with the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained in effect since.
The policy was put in place primarily due to a lack of manpower, according to Parks and Recreation Department officials. Business owners say the current system leads tourists to drop their trash on the ground, on the beach, or piled in their shop’s trash cans.
“I don’t think carry-in, carry-out works for York Beach,” Josh Waitkevich of the Goldenrod told the Selectboard.
Some said they supported the current policy because they wanted to protect taxpayers and put the responsibility on tourists. Others believed the policy has worked at Long Sands Beach but that Short Sands Beach, where more businesses sell food like pizza and ice cream, could use some assistance in addressing trash.
Board members said now was the time to consider options for the following year since budget talks are about to begin for the May 2024 referendum. They said costs and hiring could be a challenge but that they will explore options for reducing some of the burden on business owners.
“Now is the time to try and explore them (options) more fully,” Selectboard member Robert Palmer said, “And try to find something for next summer.”
Businesses, residents clash in public hearing over trash pickup
Town officials have received complaints about the carry-in, carry-out policy at the beach over the last few years. Selectboard member Mike Estes said he put the public hearing on the agenda because he believed chatter online was becoming harmful to York’s reputation as a tourist destination.
“It’s sickening when you go on social media and read that, ‘Not to stop at York. Ogunquit, Wells and Kennebunk pick up their trash, go there,’” Estes said. “We want people to continue to come here.”
Residents who spoke in favor of bringing back trash receptacles said they had the same concern. David Woods II, whose family owns property at Short Sands Beach, said the trash pileup in the downtown section should be treated as a priority by the town for the sake of the tourists who visit.
“Tourism is a business and in this town, it is sometimes looked at as a nuisance,” Woods II said. “It isn’t given the respect that I think it should.”
Those who support a strictly carryin, carry-out policy argued it should not be on residents to cover the cost of tourists. Carol Allen said too many York families have seen their taxes increase, one family she knew having their bill rise $700 this year.
“It’s disgusting for us to see umbrellas and coolers and all this debris down there and expect the taxpayers to pick it up,” Allen said. “It’s not right.”
Jeff Patten, who oversees the lifeguard operations for the town, said despite what many say about the trash piling up, the beaches are clean thanks to carry-in, carry-out. He said he understands there’s a “different dynamic” at Short Sands Beach.
“Our beaches are cleaner than they’ve ever been before,” Patten said. “I think you need carry-out.”
Business owners maintained that their own dumpsters constantly become the place where tourists bring their outside trash, which is expensive and time-consuming to clean up.
Dominique Peck, manager at the Goldenrod, said they had a 33% increase in trash costs in 2021 because tourists suddenly had no public place to bring their waste. She said they have since removed all their outside trash cans, only to find people coming in and throwing things away inside.
Martha Danilowicz, who owns Wicked Good Ice Cream, said she needs a waste bin for her customers. Somehow, Dunkin’ coffee cups, Domino’s containers, and even dirty diapers end up in her trash. That includes liquid from half-full drinks that cause messes that need to be cleaned up.
“Our trash costs have gone up drastically,” Danilowicz said. “We have to pay for disposal of trash, and I don’t feel that it’s our responsibility to be disposing of the trash for the whole town.”
Parks and Recreation: Hiring, costs among roadblocks to trash pick up
Selectboard members heard a brief presentation from Parks and Recreation staff on how the town came to have a carry-in, carry-out policy. Parks Superintendent Ryan Coite said trash pickup was proving to be demanding work even before the pandemic due to staffing. He said they saw their team drop from 10 or 12 staffers to one summer where they had zero applicants.
“That was mostly due in part that word got out that, if you worked for Parks and Recreation for the summer, really all you’re going to do is empty garbage cans all day long,” Coite said.
Coite showed Selectboard members a slide show that included pictures of trash pickup from years past. Most of the employees were 18 to 22 years old, he said, some having never been in a pickup truck let alone a garbage vehicle. The trash was often piled up where bins were located despite the service being in place.
Parks and Recreation Director Peter Murray said the cost to pick up trash is likely more expensive now than it was in 2019, the last year before the policy changed. That year, he said it cost $123,710 to provide trash pickup to 97 trash cans around town, 50 of them at the beach. The cans were changed three to four times a day, they said.
Murray suggested options to Selectboard members, like the use of new trash cans that go several feet into the earth and hold about three bags of trash and can be emptied only once per day, possibly twice. He also suggested adding six to eight strategically placed, decorative trash bins along Main Street to help with the buildup. He recommended finding an area to place two 12-yard dumpsters where tourists would be told not to bring waste from their cars.
Despite the challenge in staffing, he suggested the board still invest in a sanitation workforce that could empty the cans. Board members said they wanted to find out how to get workers again, possibly by reaching out for advice to communities like Ogunquit, which still provides the service.
“Something definitely needs to be built into our budget to be able to solve some of these problems for the people,” Estes said.
Selectboard member Marla Johnson said it’s important to note that towns funding their beach trash pickup don’t always receive residential trash as well. She said Ogunquit picks up trash downtown, but not for residences.
“What we’re hearing here, I think, is that we want both, and that’s expensive and challenging,” Johnson said. “What’s great about this town is, I think we can figure out.”