News from the Transfer Station...

First the important news; the NRRA (Northeast Resource Recovery Association) awarded the Town of Lee the town under 5000 population with the most recycling tonnage in 2007. This award is really for the townspeople who do the “primary sort” of recyclables at the transfer station. At the presentation; “the Town of Lee utilizes 17 different NRRA programs and recycled over 866 tons of material through NRRA in 2007. The Town of Lee is also very active in pursuing new and better ways to improve recycling with the use of “gripples” for tying off bales, recycling sheetrock and initiating a disposal fee coupon system. We congratulate the Town of Lee on their exemplary efforts in recycling and solid waste management. We at the T.S. want to add that it’s also the result of the commitment to recycling and efficient waste management that was made in 2003 at the town meeting when they voted to build our facility. So a big "Thank You" to the recyclers in Lee that sort into the proper bins and that brought the town this award.
In early June we are at the $90,000 mark for recycling income for fiscal ‘07-’08.
Also important; you can get “Bulky Fee” coupons from the new vending machine in the Green Shed! Dispensed are a pair of $2.50’s, or $5.00, or $10.00 coupons. The machine accepts $1.00 to $20.00 bills and does not make change. Finally!
Quote of the Month; “The Ten R’s”. If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production.
Another excellent quote to live by from our Agriculture Committee head, Erick Sawtelle;
Use it up
Wear it Out
Fix it Up
Or do without.
You may have noticed some changes in the locations of our burn pile and compost piles. The best change is the well graded area in back. This was accomplished by Randy from the Highway Dept. with their grader. We are looking for ideas for its “use”. It is an area designated for non-activity, however it is a 1/3 acre where we could plant something. Any suggestions?
A change in the market for laundry soap; they have eliminated powder. The plastic containers for liquid are sometimes coming to us with a ½ cup of liquid or more. The containers must be completely empty. Tip the bottle up-side down and tilt back and forth to drain all liquid. This is a great help to the T.S. personnel.
Paint cans; latex is not a hazardous material but can’t be disposed of here as a liquid. It can be left without a lid (non living area) to dry or pored onto fabric to dry in the sun or any way to change it from a liquid to a solid and then disposed of as trash. Empty paint cans are valuable in our steel (Tin) cans recycle bin as long as they’re empty.
Lee the Beautiful, headed up by Toni Smith, is closing in on qualifying for the 800 daffodil bulbs from NH the Beautiful roadside anti-litter program. She has coordinated the litter pick-up that the 40 plus Lee residents have done in our town. She can be e-mailed at tonismith@yahoo.com

Your “Dump Guys”; Doug, Frank, Peter and Roger plus Volunteers; Georgia, George, Harold, Paul, and Vern.

Previous News:
Finally! We can let you pay for Bulky Fee items. There is a machine to sell our coupons in the “Green Shed”. It accepts $1.00, $5.00, $10.00 and $20.00s. It does not make change and it sells a pair of $2.50 coupons. Since these are your tax dollars you’ll be glad to know that the money is removed every evening for security reasons.
Just a reminder as we get into the Yard Sale season, it is a violation of the Transfer Station rules to resell anything received from the Transfer Station. That includes items taken from the Swap Shop. If you know of anyone violating this rule, please let the Manager or the Police Dept. know about it.
Some major changes and why: We have moved our burn pile as part of the evolution of our old landfill. Since the burn pile is going behind the old Lawn and Yard Waste location, that pile moved up to where you picked up aged compost. There are signs posted to direct you to the new locations of all the above sites.
GOT BOOKS? If you drop off books that are re-readable (novels etc.) by Lee residents, please leave them at the Swap Shop. Books that are soft or hard cover and of no interest to be read by residents can go directly in the gray “Got Books” container just before the Swap Shop.

LEE THE BEAUTIFUL. As part of “New Hampshire the Beautiful” roadside litter pick-up campaign, we have Toni Smith (toni.smith@yahoo.com) coordinating our efforts in Lee. We have found more and more residents that canvas their streets or roads to keep it free of litter. The data base is growing rapidly and if you or someone you know is helping keep Lee litter free, please get their name to the T.S. office or e-mail Toni. We are getting close to qualifying for 800 daffodil bulbs to be used for town beautification. We appreciate your help!
Speaking of beautification, enjoy the ever expanding and growing “Demonstration Area” on the top of the hill as you enter. Just added were Summersweet, and Gael Grant, Bob Hart and Carolyn Bassage planted a Black Gum tree, and Hemlocks that were donated by Jim and Marianne Banks. On the horizon are plans for walking paths to be put through the area.
More from the Transfer Station
We can't do much about the $4.00/Gal gasoline, however, remember the old adage; “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. A lot of us are trying to cut our use of gasoline and one way is to get back to biking. There you can get whatever you need for parts and service. A lot of the roads around Lee are fairly flat, and there is a group that starts out on Friday from the Town Hall before work at 6:30, sometimes 7:00. on a 7.2 loop that takes less than an hour, contact Caren at the town hall to confirm start times if you want to join in. Here's to a summer we can all enjoy and avoid wasting gasoline too.

Bulky fee items; we still need to go to the Town Hall, M,T,W, or Fri between 8:00 and 4:00 to purchase the coupons. However, by the end of the month we should have in place a dispensing machine for residents to purchase coupons at the Transfer Station. Until then, please pick them up ahead of time.

When bringing material to the Transfer Station in a trailer or an open bed truck, please do secure your loads so that material doesn't blow off onto the roadside as you travel. Those that walk and jog along the roads in town tell us there are many lost items as well as intentionally discarded litter. Each year we sell compost bins (for home composting) in March and the order comes in April. We bought some extras and they have arrived. The supply is limited. The price is $40 payable with a check to the “Town of Lee”.

We are fortunate to have a secure building to operate efficiently out of, and to be able to maximize our recycling and therefore the income from it. However, next door in the Town of Epping they had a break in and lost their aluminum can inventory to thieves. Our police chief and T.S. Manager were called and quoted in the story that ran in the Union Leader. We also reviewed our security at the Transfer Station and made some additional changes.

With the price of metals climbing we have done everything we can to get the most dollars for the town's recycling efforts. Our current income for recycling to date is $68,780., and we still have May and June to go in our fiscal year. There is no magic, just can by can and bottle by bottle and box by box, we all can earn money from recycling instead of paying tax dollars. Our only problem left is the tons of recycling income that is going to the landfill. Material going there costs us about $100. per ton instead of the income of money. In a nutshell; the 3 papers = $80. to $130/ Ton, Plastics = $290 to $760/ Ton and steel cans (Tin) $130. to $270/ Gross Ton and last Alum cans $1,380 to $1,620/ Ton!! The problem is only the non-recyclers, those that still throw all trash together to the landfill. Please help us get the word out to those remaining people.


Right next to the pile you will see hundreds of daffodils from the bulbs planted last year by Troop # 314 Jr. Girl Scouts (Dawn Genes) with the grant $ that came to the Lee Master Gardeners Program. A beautiful addition to the Transfer Station, Thank You all!

And when you're out gardening; be sure to check for ticks when you come inside! The early word is that the ticks are prevalent this year.

If you or someone you know is doing roadside pick-up in Lee, please get their name(s) to the Transfer Station; 659-2239 or leave the name in the office. We have a volunteer coordinator who is hoping to list all parties and then we (the Town) will receive 800 daffodil bulbs for planting on town properties. This is part of the “NH the Beautiful” program. All of us at the Transfer Station would like to thank everyone for their
recycling efforts. Here is a summary of what we were able to recycle
as a town in 2007 for your inspection. 2007 Recycling Information
Keep up the great work!
Your Dump Guys: Doug, Frank, Pete and Roger &
Volunteers; George, Georgia, Harold, Paul and Vern.