You Ask, Patch Answers: What's Up With the Brickbottom Transfer Station?

I recently got an email from a reader asking about the Waste Management transfer station in Brickbottom, off McGrath Highway.

In the fall of 2011, the city sent a letter to Waste Management saying it planned to . Based on the lease agreement between Somerville and the trash company, the city had to give Waste Management one-year notice that it was terminating the lease.

The reader pointed out the transfer station still isn't closed, and, well, Oct. 1 was four months ago.

I asked Jackie Rossetti, a city spokesperson, about what's going on. She said although Waste Management's lease ended on Oct. 1, the company is in a "transition period," and it has until the end of the city's current fiscal year to vacate the facility.

The fiscal year ends on June 30.

Rossetti said "an extra period [was] given" beyond what's legally required to help Waste Management transfer out of the area.

The reader who originally asked the question did some digging herself. Over Twitter, the city told her the transfer station would close on June 30 and that demolition would begin in August.

This matter has also been addressed by the Somerville Board of Aldermen. A resolution is before the aldermen's Finance Committee. It states: "That this Board of Aldermen hereby requests that the Administration provide an update to this Board regarding the closing and disposition of the Transfer Station, including anticipated dates for demolition and arrangements for providing for waste disposal services for the City."

The Finance Committee next meets on Feb. 12, and this matter is on the agenda.

If you've got a question you'd like Somerville Patch to answer—or try to answer—send an email to chris.orchard@patch.com, or reach us on Twitter or Facebook.