Casella Waste Systems told the Dalton Board of Selectmen this week that a proposed landfill would generate more than $71 million in benefits to the community over 25 years. During a board meeting broadcast via Zoom, Brian Oliver, a vice president with Rutland, Vt.-based Casella, presented his company’s “community host benefit agreement” for the Granite State Landfill. The 137-acre landfill, to be located off New Hampshire Route 116, west of Forest Lake State Park, would serve the state’s solid-waste disposal needs for the better part of 40 years, according to Casella.
The NCES landfill has been a longtime source of controversy in Bethlehem, and the Dalton landfill has been flagged by critics, who complain it would increase truck traffic as well as generate dust, noise and odors and negatively affect property values and quality of life. To prevent a landfill in Dalton, residents, led by Jon Swan, a founder of Save Forest Lake, successfully petitioned the town to adopt emergency zoning laws.
In his presentation Monday, Casella’s Oliver presented a plan to mitigate the Dalton landfill’s impact on property values, but began with an overview of the “community host benefit agreement,” which he said would provide Dalton $2.2 million in its first year. The agreement consists of six parts, he said, the first being $2 million in annual property taxes, subject to increases in the federal Consumer Price Index. Casella would make up any shortfall through monthly payments to the town, Oliver said.
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