GEORGIA, Vermont, February 7, 2023 — Northwest Vermont Solid Waste District (NWSWD), a municipal agency charged with overseeing waste management and reduction for member communities., will hold a Bond Vote on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Voters will be asked to authorize the District to borrow up to $1.5 million to finance the cost of renovating the NWSWD Georgia Recycling Facility. When the Georgia facility was built in 2007, NWSWD only managed cardboard and paper, and served around 34,000 people. Today NWSWD’s programs serve over 54,000 residents and have expanded to include electronic waste, Household Hazardous Waste, plastic diversion, maple sap tubing, agricultural film, and many other waste streams. The Georgia facility can no longer support the volume and variety of recyclable material that it is now receiving. The original site design and increased traffic raises safety concerns for staff and customers. The renovations will allow NWSWD to have a larger space for on-site storage and improve transportation efficiency. These factors will cut the cost of operations, increase recycling capacity, improve safety, and allow for more site users. An overview of the proposed improvements is as follows:

• Construction of a new, Household Hazardous Waste building on the property for the collection and storage of paint and chemicals.
• Redesign of our traffic flow system, with the construction of a second entrance to the facility, additional parking, and a loading zone for bulky items.
• Expansion of the main facility warehouse and administration building, with an 1800 square foot addition planned for the North Side of the building. The expansion will include storage for baled recyclables.

This renovation project has an estimated maximum cost of $1.5 million dollars. The NWSWD has reserve funds set aside for facility improvements and will be using grants from the State of Vermont to contribute about $260,000 to the project. Because these funds will not be sufficient to pay the total cost, we will need to borrow funds to complete the renovations. We are certain that the project will not increase the NWSWD annual budget because of our available reserve funds, and because we are on the verge of retiring our current long-term debt. Therefore, the NWSWD will not need to pass along the cost of the project to residents, towns, or district haulers by increasing the cost of services or surcharge rates.

Download a Bond Vote Flyer here. 

View the site renovations concept and design.

Please contact NWSWD if you have questions or need further information. Telephone (802) 524-5986 – Email: info@nwswd.org