Dec 7, 2016 By Luke Campbell 3 min read

As Andrew Baram described the bell-curved data projected on the screen, he noted that the hardest part would be convincing residents of Mt. Lebanon in the middle of that study that they were the most important group to target in order to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills, which is 20 percent more than the national average.

But the first people Baram, chairman of the Mt. Lebanon Environmental Sustainability Board, is going to have to influence are the five commissioners to establish the SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash) program to solve local waste-management issues.

To further the proposal given during the Nov. 28 discussion session, he accompanied Rudy Sukal, public works director, Andrew McCreery, municipal financial director, Ian McMeans, assistant municipal manager, and Susan Morgans public information officer, to address commissioners of altering the way Mt. Lebanon currently handles trash.

The proposal, formerly known as “Pay-As-You-Throw,” would charge residents a rate based on how much waste they present for collection. If approved and acted upon by commissioners, the program would begin after the municipality’s current agreement with SHACOG expires at the end of 2018.

“I hate waste and inefficiency,” Baram said about the current system. “We are throwing out more at the curb per person than other towns. I stopped calling it ‘Pay-As-You-Throw’ because I know people who are in favor of it that would just get stuck on that first word. We are calling it SMART because essentially what we want to do is save money and reduce trash.”

According to Baram’s research and experience, a proposed bag program would accommodate approximately 95 percent of trash with the potential of saving money, mostly effecting the municipality’s money and not that of residents.

“In aggregate, the town will save money,” Baram said. “It really won’t make too much of a difference to individual residents aside from improving the environment. It could save Mt. Lebanon millions over the life of a five-year contract.”

Morgans mentioned how community outreach and education with assistance from the public information office could give residents a clearer understanding of the program and commissioners an idea of the community’s impressions.

Baram asked commissioners to not use the $20,000 in the 2016 budget to “engage the community for the input needed to customize a possible program,” with the hope of spending it in 2017 for educational purposes.

“This is a dramatic change to the entire community,” Commissioner Steve Silverman said about the importance of discussing the issue and education people. “We need to give people some lean time to react to this.”

Commissioner Kelly Fraasch also commented about the program in place within Mt. Lebanon is unlike any she has seen before by being able to throw “just about anything you want” out on the curb.

The commission will continue to discuss the proposal with the hopes of reaching a decision to meet the appropriate deadline in Fall 2017, an obligated and due diligence process to remain on track for bids by the summer of 2018 if approved.

“There is going to be resistance,” Baram said about commissioners. “They are afraid of backlash and change. They don’t want to do anything that’s going to jeopardize their standing in the community or maybe they just don’t believe in the program.”