Representatives of Waste Management, which handles sanitation for the Town of Wales, outlined a “rewards” program to encourage recycling at this week’s work session of the Town Board.
The company’s national program, RecycleBank, which was formed in 2004, rewards customers for everyday actions with discounts and deals from name-brand companies, as well as local ones, using a point system.
Customers can join the program by logging on to RecycleBank.com. According to Waste Management, the average active curb customer can save $167 a year, and the average active digital bank member can earn an average of $29 a year.
The plan increases revenues to local businesses, lowers landfill bills and works with schools to reduce contamination.
Also, the board will meet soon with the president of the Wales Center Fire Company to begin discussions about the 2013 firefighting services contract.
The fire company, which has 37 active members, is seeking a change on the November ballot that would allow firefighters who joined the fire company at an older age more time to collect their benefits.
Currently, firefighters can work as long as they wish, but their benefits are capped at age 65. They want to be able to earn benefits after age 65 until they reach the 20-year service mark.
The company has five firefighters who will hit the age of entitlement before earning their full 20 years.
Resident Dorothy Carlone questioned the Town Board about who is monitoring the tractor-trailers that drive through town. She said she was concerned they may be connected with hydraulic fracturing or digging wells.
Carlone said she was informed by the building inspector that it is the job of the state Department of Environmental Conservation to monitor the trucks.
She also wants to know when the town will buy a meter to monitor the noise level at the National Fuel compressor station on Reiter Road. She is a member of a citizens group that is concerned about noise pollution there.
A complaint about the high speed of vehicles on a section of Hunters Creek Road south of Centerline Road was forwarded to the state Department of Transportation for study.