The fate of Baltimore’s heavily used trash drop-off center, located on public property long desired by a developer, was recently sealed by a task force appointed by Mayor Brandon Scott.

The property on Sisson Street in Remington can eventually be closed, the panel said, as long as certain milestones are met.

With the release yesterday of its final report, the Sisson Street Task Force formalizes its support for the shut-down scenario that city officials have long favored and explains how quickly the main condition for closure can be met:

The renovation of the Reedbird Sanitation Yard “which may take 3-4 years,” must be complete before the Citizen Drop-Off Center at 2840 Sisson Street can be closed, the report says.

The Reedbird operation, in South Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood, was closed last year for renovations. “Strategies to make the site more appealing” are part of that overhaul, the report notes, acknowledging that Reedbird “is located directly across the street from residential properties.”

This is a nod to equity concerns raised during the debate over whether to retain or close Sisson.

Members of the public and some task force members pointed out that a shutdown basically means other facilities located in majority Black neighborhoods will have to accept trash and waste material that had been going to a facility in a majority white neighborhood.

“Streetscaping, murals, materials that are consistent with development in the area, and anything that improves the view that residents who live across the street see, are planned,” the report said.

The report lists other conditions to be met, aimed at compensating for the loss of Sisson. They include:

• Some recycling operations will be moved to a Department of General Services site on York Road just north of 41st Street, including allowing the Charles Village and Midtown Benefits Districts to have dumpsters there.

• The drop-off for hazardous household waste will be relocated to the Department of Public Works’ Eastside facility on Bowleys Lane, as well as to an unnamed alternative site.

• “A comprehensive, robust and consistent education campaign [will be] conducted to help residents know all of the options for taking materials – all the sites, better recycling habits, anti-litter and more.”

• The roles assigned to Sisson Street in the Less Waste, Better Baltimore plan will be re-assigned to other sites.

• Pilot testing will be conducted on the impacts of Sisson Street’s closing during a wind-down period and “factors discovered during the testing must be resolved.”

“Proceeds of any potential sale of the Sisson property will go toward implementation of zero waste goals”  – Task Force Report.

• Alluding to the development plan behind the Sisson shutdown, the last item notes “as the process for DPW to accomplish the seven conditions occurs, residents can begin planning for an alternative to the site.”

A separate list of goals reads more like a wish list, separated by ellipses, than a set of firm conditions:

“Accelerate Zero Waste initiatives . . . take care of Sisson Street DPW workers . . . increase inspectors and penalties for illegal dumping . . . improve Bulk Trash collection.”

DPW is also advised that “if Sisson is sold, proceeds of any potential sale of the Sisson property will go toward implementation of zero waste goals.”

Who Will Be Accountable?

Who will oversee and be held accountable for meeting these conditions?

The Baltimore City Sustainability Commission and the City Council’s Public Health and Environment Committee, or its successor, says the report.

The task force was formed last October after Mayor Brandon Scott announced what proved to be a wildly unpopular plan to sell 2840 Sisson Street to a developer and move the facility to a site down the hill beside a cherished but challenged urban waterway, the Jones Falls.

(Seawall’s Thibault Manekin, who wants to acquire the Sisson site for his mixed-use project in Remington, had been at the first meeting when a timetable, flashed on a screen, showed the sale of the city property complete within five months.)

After Scott backed off that idea, he directed the task force to consider whether to leave Sisson alone, shut it down or move it to a different site.

The report released this week reviews the ideas considered and rejected in meetings held since then, the reasons for rejecting other sites, and the justification for shuttering a site that has twice the volume of solid waste drop off as the next busiest facility (Bowleys Lane).

The final report repeats what DPW officials have said all along – that the layout, less than two usable acres, “has created significant challenges” and the facility is old and hazardous for employees.

“While a modular was recently placed on site to provide locker rooms, the main building needs significant repair, if not a total tear down,” the report said. “Workers still work outside in the extreme heat and in the extreme cold.”

“The facility is so busy on weekends, particularly during hazardous household waste drop-off weekends, that queuing occurs on the outside of the facility for several blocks, all the way up to Keswick Road,” it continued.

400 Emails Tallied

The report also references the the Task Force’s efforts to obtain and gauge public sentiment about the issue, a process that drew some complaints.

At a meeting on February 23, the public was invited to choose three options – leave Sisson where it is, shut it down or relocate it.

More than 400 emails were received ahead of the task force’s March 7 vote to shut the facility.

A significant number of the letter writers, appeared to favor Option 1, leaving the trash operation where it is.

But some task force members said they felt a number of these emails were duplicates or “too nuanced” to be easily counted.

Would a tally be released ahead of the panel’s vote? No, task force chair Councilwoman Odette Ramos ultimately decided.

Ramos said the tally would be released in the final report, which shows Option 1 at 44%, Option 2 at 46%, Option 3 at 8% and Other at 2%.

• To read all of The Brew’s reporting on this subject: Scott’s Sisson Trash Plan.