[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Chelmsford 1952 by Art. 35. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Hazardous materials — See Ch. 63.
Littering — See Ch. 84.
Unsolicited written material — See Ch. 168.
Unregistered vehicles — See Ch. 180.
Dumpsters — See Ch. 201, Art. V.
Residential refuse collection — See Ch. 201, Art. XI.
Waste automobile oil — See Ch. 201, Art. XII.
[Amended 5-1-1989 ATM by Art. 34]
It shall be unlawful for any person to dump any refuse or other solid waste, as defined in MGL c. 16, § 18, on either public or private property other than an area approved and licensed by the Board of Health or the Department of Environmental Quality Engineering. Violators of this section shall be punishable by a fine of $300 for each offense and shall be required to remove the illegally dumped refuse and dispose of it in accordance with town, state and federal regulations. Any violator shall be responsible for all costs and expenses incurred in the removal and disposal of said waste. Said penalties shall be cumulative with fines and penalties under any federal or state criminal or civil statute.
[Added 5-6-1974 ATM by Art. 25; amended 5-16-1977 ATM by Art. 32; 5-16-1977 ATM by Art. 34; 5-21-1979 ATM by Art. 48; 10-17-2005 ATM by Art. 22; 5-3-2007 ATM by Art. 17]
Restricted material: To insure compliance with the state solid waste facility regulation, 310 CMR 19.017, which prohibits the disposal as trash of certain recyclable materials, it shall be unlawful to have the following materials disposed of in, or collected with the trash. The Town shall direct its contracted waste hauler, which is obligated to comply with all state and local laws, not to collect any such visible recyclable materials with the trash. It shall be unlawful for any person other than the contracted recycling hauler to remove any such recyclable materials placed out for collection for the contracted recycling hauler. Violation of this subsection shall be punishable by a fine of $25 for the first offense and subsequent offenses $100.
A. 
Glass containers: glass bottles and jars, excluding light bulbs, Pyrex cookware, plate glass, drinking glasses, windows, windshields and ceramics;
B. 
Metal containers: aluminum, steel or bimetal beverage and food containers;
C. 
Recyclable paper: all paper, cardboard, and paperboard products (e.g., office paper, newspaper, unwaxed cardboard and cereal boxes), excluding tissue paper, paper towel, paper plates, cups and other low-grade paper products which become unusable to paper mills as a result of normal intended use;
D. 
Single resin narrow-necked plastic: all narrow-necked plastic containers of any resin type. Narrow-necked containers are those for which the diameter of the opening is smaller than the diameter of the base (e.g., a soda bottle is narrow-necked but a yogurt container is not);
E. 
Whole tires: unshredded motor vehicle tires, meaning tires which have not been cut, sliced or ground into four or more pieces such that the circular form of the tire has been eliminated;
F. 
Yard waste and leaves: grass clippings, weeds, garden materials, shrub trimmings and brush one inch or less in diameter, deciduous and coniferous leaves;
G. 
Cathode ray tubes (CRTs): any intact, broken, or processed glass tube used to provide the visual display in televisions, computer monitors and certain scientific instruments such as oscilloscopes (310 CMR 19.006);
H. 
Lead-acid batteries: lead-acid batteries used in motor vehicles or stationary applications; and
I. 
White goods: large appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, gas or electric ovens and ranges and hot water heaters (310 CMR 19.0006).
[Added 6-11-1990 ATM by Art. 14]
A. 
All residents, excepting those in structures or complexes with five or more dwelling units, shall use the town-provided solid waste collection services unless the town is provided with proper documentation that solid waste is being disposed of in accordance with all applicable municipal, state and federal laws. It shall be unlawful for any resident to use town-provided solid waste collection services without paying the applicable fee for such services.
B. 
Violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of $100 for each offense.
[Added 10-28-1991 ATM by Art. 12]
A. 
The Town of Chelmsford shall continue its program of curbside pickup and disposal of solid household waste through the use of a private contractor or contractors.
B. 
The Town of Chelmsford shall continue a program that encourages all residents to recycle specified items.
C. 
The Town of Chelmsford shall continue its program for the disposal of household hazardous waste and related items.
D. 
Funding for the above programs shall be through the appropriation of funds by an Annual or Special Town Meeting and/or the establishment of an annual or other periodic user or subscriber fee or charge.
(1) 
In the event that funding for any or all solid waste programs is derived from a Proposition 21/2 override, then those funds shall be exclusively used for such services for the fiscal year initially authorized for and all future years. All such solid waste programs shall include service to all single-family residences and all multifamily complexes. However, the Town shall not provide solid waste collection services to non-governmental multifamily complexes with four or more rental units.
[Added 4-27-1992 STM by Art. 2; amended 10-23-2017 ATM by Art. 22]
(a) 
The Town Manager shall, when presenting a budget to Town Meeting, specifically account for such funds.
(b) 
In the event that Town Meeting shall fail to appropriate all or any part of the funds for such services, the unused amount of the proposition override shall not be raised nor shall it be used for any other purpose.
(2) 
Any and all funds received by the town from the sale of materials collected and/or marketed through any of the solid waste programs shall be used only for the purposes contained in this section.
[Added 4-27-1992 STM by Art. 2]
(3) 
In the event that a user or subscriber fee or charge is established, said funds will be accounted for and maintained in a program-specific enterprise fund or account. Such fund shall be administered by the Town Accountant in accordance with applicable state laws, rules and regulations concerning this type of account.
(4) 
Notwithstanding the above, the Manager may negotiate contractual terms whereby the town's selected contractor manages and administers the annual fee for the collection, transportation and/or disposal or marketing of solid wastes and recyclables, in which event fees may be made directly to the contractor and shall be accounted for under the terms of the contract.
[Added 4-27-1992 STM by Art. 3]
E. 
No program shall significantly subsidize another program, except as follows:
(1) 
Billing. In the event that an annual user or subscriber fee is established for household solid waste, the incidental cost of billing and payment processing for other programs shall be borne by the household solid waste program, provided that such billing and payment processing is included as part of the household solid waste program's billing and payment schedule.
(2) 
Administration of programs. In the event that an annual user or subscriber fee is established for household solid waste, the cost of administering the various nonhousehold solid waste programs shall be borne by the solid waste program. In the event that the actual or projected costs of administering these other nonhousehold solid waste programs exceeds 20% of the total cost of administration, the town shall either fund such excess amount through an increase in nonhousehold solid waste fees or other appropriation.
(3) 
Equipment. Equipment used to administer, support and manage the solid waste program may be utilized by other departments of the town. Said use shall be under the direction of the Town Manager.
F. 
The Board of Health shall regulate and license trash haulers in accordance with the state laws. Said regulations shall provide for an annual or multi-year licensing period that runs concurrently with the annual user fee, if such a fee or charge is made.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 201, Health Regulations, Art. XI, Residential Refuse Collection.
G. 
The Town Manager shall be responsible for the establishment and overall management of the various programs provided for in this section. The Board of Health shall be responsible for providing overall direction and enforcement of those areas of any of the programs that are assigned to it by state law, local bylaw, the Select Board or the Town Manager.
[Amended 6-17-2021 ATM by Art. 29]
H. 
The Town Manager shall, based upon information provided to him or her by the Town Finance Director, Town Accountant and other sources, recommend to the Select Board the amount of the annual or other periodic user fee and/or charge. The Select Board shall establish this fee and/or charge prior to the Annual Spring Town Meeting. The Town Manager shall, when presenting his or her budget to the Annual Spring Town Meeting or any other Town Meeting, include in his or her budget a provision allowing for the appropriation of funds from general town funds for any of the programs included in this section. The Town Manager shall implement such changes and adjust any fees and/or other charges accordingly.
[Amended 6-17-2021 ATM by Art. 29]
I. 
All user and other fees assessed and/or charged under the terms of this section shall be against the assessed owner of the property. In the event that a property owner shall fail to pay a fee or charge made under this section, the Town Manager shall be authorized to suspend the service that has not been paid for. The Town Manager shall give the property owner 10 days' notice by first class mail of the action to be taken. The Town Manager shall notify the Board of Health of the proposed action.
J. 
A property owner may elect to use an alternate trash hauler to comply with the terms of this section and requirements of the Board of Health for the disposal of household trash, provided that the alternate trash hauler has been licensed by the Board of Health and appropriate documentation is provided to the Town Manager within 30 days of the start of the annual or other service period established by the Town Manager. In the event that a property owner fails to provide the appropriate documentation, it shall be presumed that the property owner is participating in the town programs. The Town Manager shall have the authority to establish appropriate rules and regulations for the implementation of this provision and the apportionment of fees and/or charges based upon partial year use. The Town Manager shall be authorized to establish rules and regulations that allow for abatements and payment deferral based on hardship or other similar circumstances.
K. 
In the event that a property owner wishes to appeal a decision of the Town Manager, the Select Board, upon written request by the property owner, shall hear such appeal and modify the Town Manager's decision, provided that such decision shall be based upon the terms of this section and applicable laws, rules and regulations as they pertain to the programs included in this section. An affirmative vote of three members of the Select Board shall be required to alter a decision of the Town Manager.
[Amended 6-17-2021 ATM by Art. 29]
L. 
In the event that the programs shall be totally funded by general funds available to the town and that no user fee or other charge shall be required in a given fiscal year, the nonfinancial assets of the program shall be given to the town at no cost or charge. Any surplus of funds in the enterprise account shall be returned to the users as a credit against their real estate taxes and/or other fees and betterments by the Town Treasurer-Collector.
[Amended 10-21-1999 ATM by Art. 31]
M. 
Interpretation and implementation of the terms this section shall be made by the Town Manager. This section shall go into effect at the earliest date permissible by applicable state law. All funds collected for the current year's programs shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of this section.
N. 
The Town Manager shall, within 120 days of the adoption of this section, prepare and make available the rules and regulations implementing the various programs included in this section.
{END OF CHAPTER}