SUNDERLAND — As the town’s Energy Committee continues to explore potential transfer station locations in town, the executive director of the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District suggested a different route: Why not share with a neighbor?

In the long-running process, which started in May 2021, the Energy Committee has searched around the community for a suitable location to place a transfer station, with options ranging from behind the Public Safety Complex to Reservation Road, which would have required residents drive into Montague to reach it.

Finally, it landed on a 14-acre, town-owned parcel off Bull Hill Road, although that location, too, has some challenges, according to Energy Committee member David Goodwin.

“Pretty much every place we have looked at, has fizzled for one reason or hundreds of reasons,” Goodwin said, noting a 2023 survey among 150 Sunderland residents found 80% reacted positively to having a transfer station.

Currently, Sunderland residents are served by USA Waste & Recycling and Goodwin said that “if you are a customer, like most of us are, you’ll notice that it’s starting to get really, really expensive.”

Instead, Franklin County Solid Waste Management District Executive Director Jan Ameen suggested Sunderland take a look at potentially sharing a transfer station with one of its neighbors, much like how Charlemont and Shelburne operate.

Ameen explained Shelburne and Charlemont share the latter’s transfer station, with each town accepting waste on different days and Shelburne paying rent. 

In terms of Sunderland’s neighbors, she said Leverett’s station is “pretty full” and Deerfield might be the next logical step, as its transfer station is located on a fairly large piece of property that could accommodate equipment for Sunderland, if Deerfield is interested in hosting it.

“There’s a massive amount of open space back there,” Goodwin added, “so if they wanted to expand capacity, they have the room to do it.”

Selectboard members signaled they were open to reaching out to Deerfield, as well as Whately and Conway, to see what options were available. With so many shared services between the communities already, including the Frontier Regional School District and South County EMS (which doesn’t include Conway), members said it only makes sense to see if their neighbors were open to some sort of regional agreement.

“If we can develop a relationship with a town that is both amenable and convenient, great … I would definitely like to explore the different options and see what their appetite is,” said Selectboard Chair Nathaniel Waring. “In general, small towns like ours are moving more and more toward regionalizing everything and all costs are more aptly shared when it comes to a couple of towns.”

How do Goodwin and the Energy Committee feel after spending three years trying to find a home for the transfer station, just to end up exploring the possibility of sharing one? Pretty good, actually.

“Instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, why not pursue that option?” Goodwin said. “It’s funny that this is possibly going in such a different direction … I like it, I think it’s a positive thing.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.