Next Monday’s town meeting, planned for 7:00 p.m. at Botelle School has taken on new urgency as state legislators weigh the future of Torrington’s waste facility.
Item 4 on the agenda is to discuss whether Norfolk will designate the Northwest Regional Recovery Authority (NRRA) as the town’s resource recovery authority. [please keep the strong “has taken on new urgency” as the lead and then say why.]
First Selectman Henry Tirrell has said that designating the NRRA as the town’s waste management authority will strengthen the NRRA’s position with the state legislature as it debates the future of the Torrington site.
The NRRA is the Northwest Hills Council of Government’s response to the solid waste crisis in Connecticut created by the dissolution of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) in Hartford. COG has sought control of Torrington recycling site for use as a central collection hub for Northwest Corner towns since 2022, when MIRA—which served 72 Connecticut municipalities—was closed.
Last year, lawmakers scuttled the attempt of USA Waste, a private hauler, to purchase the Torrington facility, passing legislation that required it to remain in the public domain. But area town officials were stunned in March to learn that the Department of Administrative Services, which has operated the plant for the last year, plans to shutter it on June 30.
It is expected that USA Waste would renew its offer to buy the facility and the NRRA does not have the staff or the budget to compete with the company’s $3.25 million offer.
In response, a bipartisan group of area legislators has raised a land conveyance bill that would transfer ownership of the facility to the NRRA at no cost other administrative expenses. A hearing on the bill was held Wednesday in Hartford with much comment supporting the land conveyance.
If successful, the bill would require the NRRA to operate the transfer station in perpetuity, as a public facility for handling municipal waste. The facility processes 25,000 tons per year of waste, recyclables and bulky items, and has a capacity to expand that to 60,000 tons.