To the editor,

I write to respond to Mr. Mark Katzman’s letter of Nov. 10 in the Portsmouth Times.

The council vote of Oct. 24 has settled the matter of the transfer station with a vote to extend the contract for two years. 

Mr. Katzman is curious about how I could know what was in the minds of the council regarding the transfer station. That is a question easily answered. While I do not read minds, I have attended virtually all council meetings in the last 20 years. The PCC itself will celebrate its 25th year of continuous operation next year and collectively we have an extensive level of experience. 

Some members on the council and the administration tried to close the station in 2017, but the vote went against them. The agenda for the meeting of Oct. 11, 2022 is also instructive. It lacked any proposal, in 11 attachments, for keeping the station open. The transfer station, at the time of that meeting, was scheduled to close on June 30, 2023. 

Then there is the wording of the agenda item itself: “Review of Transfer Station Operation Vs. Curbside Collection Bids.” That was quite clear to me. So, you really don’t have to be clairvoyant to figure this out. 

Mr. Katzman questions my figures for station operations. The town administration’s estimate of the costs of operations for calendar year 2023 will increase over double current year costs. That hardly seems reasonable. The town’s estimate also lacked any historical or current costs. I did not dream up my own figures, but used historical costs in previous years and the current year cost estimates in the town budget, page 82. That portion of the budget was approved on Nov. 22, 2021 by the council.

Why the council majority would want to close the station is actually quite clear. The bids received for curbside collection are based upon 4,000 customers. Middletown closed its transfer station a few years ago and now charges its citizens $141 a year. Yet they still have not met the 4,000 level. Anything short of this number in Portsmouth would cause the costs to rise, and they are already high. A closed transfer station would provide an additional 2,600 or so customers for curbside pickup.

Mr. Katzman seems to have the view that the PCC is a secret corporation. We do keep our membership lists confidential. We do so under the First Amendment supported by the U.S. Supreme Court case NAACP v. Alabama (1958), which prohibits governments from demanding access to member lists of private organizations. In addition, the PCC is a corporation because the State of Rhode Island requires non-profits to register as corporations.

Mr. Katzman also comments that he intends to start a citizens group. We welcome any addition to public discourse, but I think it may be difficult to attract citizens to a group dedicated to raising property taxes.

Larry Fitzmorris

President, Portsmouth Concerned Citizens

50 Kristen Court

Portsmouth