FARMINGTON — Farmington's Green Efforts Committee has $38,657 in its account and a price for a public food-scrap bin, an enclosed drop-off where residents could leave food scraps instead of throwing them in the trash. It will not decide whether to buy one until January, after the results of the town survey are in.
The advice to wait came from Town Manager Kathleen Blonski. Patti Boye-Williams, the committee's chair and a Democratic Town Council member from District 2, told the committee on Oct. 6 that she had discussed the pilot with Blonski, and that "her strongest recommendation is to wait for the survey."
Blonski's concern, as Boye-Williams relayed it, was a pilot started too early: if residents showed little interest and it failed, the committee would have spent its money on bins and gotten nothing for it. Blonski told her the committee was free to spend its own money, Boye-Williams said, recalling her words: "I think it would be fine if you guys want to spend your money on that, but you might have egg on your face if we can't actually keep up with it later."
If the survey shows residents want food-scrap collection, Boye-Williams said, Blonski thinks it would "probably be easy to put into the budget" for the 2027-28 fiscal year. The council is waiting, too. "At least four members of the town council are very much interested in hearing what the survey says before they decide to do any additional funding of anything," Boye-Williams said. She counted herself among the pilot's supporters: "I know there's at least two of us who are very willing to push this through the council, but that's not the majority."
The survey opened Oct. 9 and will run about four to six weeks, with results expected in December, probably too late for the committee's December meeting, which has moved to Wednesday, Dec. 9. Residents who want food-scrap collection will find it in a question asking them to pick three sustainability efforts, where it shares a single choice with textile recycling and better use of regular recycling.
Its own money
Some members wanted to go ahead without the town. "We have almost 40 grand in the budget," one said. "I think we should try and move forward with a pilot using our money for one bin."
The case against was the bill that does not end. Pickups recur every year, and a hauler told the committee in August that food-scrap collection would not save the town money. "Once you run out of money, there's no more money," one participant said. No vote was taken.
The balance itself answers a question from September, when members estimated the account at about $30,000 and asked Assistant Town Planner Garrett Daigle, the committee's staff liaison, for the exact figure. Its two biggest years came during the town's push for solar, Daigle said; the town received a cut when residents signed up with a partner installer or electricity supplier. The ledger he put on the screen shows $20,223.31 coming in during the 2014-15 fiscal year and $23,716.75 in 2015-16. The account has taken in less than $3,000 every year since, and nothing at all since 2023-24, when it took in $953.62. Daigle said he would check whether the textile-recycling program's payments, due quarterly, have been reaching the account.
One bin would cost $5,824 with a four-sided graphic wrap, or about $4,700 without it. Blue Earth Compost quoted committee member Kimberly Haidinger $36 a pickup to empty it weekly, or $1,872 a year. The app subscription is $38 a month per bin.
Where it would go
The library is the leading site, for its central location, its traffic and its cameras. A second site has to be on town-owned land, outside the flood plain and not at a school. The yard-waste drop-off at Tunxis Mead, discussed at length, is less visible and open to residents only during limited hours. A Sustainable CT matching-grant program can cover part of the cost of bins when residents raise money toward them.
The committee's November meeting, on Monday, Nov. 2, will take up the composting work, with the decision set for January. Before then, metroSTOR is to be asked whether its bin needs an electrical hookup.
The library, the committee's first choice, has not yet been asked.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. A compost bin has to be emptied every week. Whatever you keep at Farmington Storage can wait until January, or a good deal longer, without complaint. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's Green Efforts Committee long enough to know that every compost question ends at the budget calendar. He is on his third coffee and, like the committee, will wait until January. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town nobody else is covering: the committee with $38,657 and a decision in January, the police log that is technically public record but that you'd never find unless someone typed it up, the school board vote that decides what your kids learn next year. We publish slowly, deliberately and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news," and we stand behind it. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. 📰