Braintree Council Tables Ivory Street Recycling Center Closure, Faults Budget Process

BRAINTREE -- June 17, 2026, Braintree Town Council tables Ivory Street recycling center closure and faults administration for budget opacity. The council voted unanimously Tuesday to table Order 2726, which proposed reducing hours at the Ivory Street trash and recycling drop-off center beginning July 1 and closing the facility entirely on January 1, 2027, to help close a $178,000 shortfall within the Department of Public Works. DPW Director Jox told the council the town's new trash hauling contract rose $257,583 for fiscal year 2027, while Councilor Reynolds noted the facility's labor cost is less than $100,000, "less than 1%" of the town's $182 million budget. Councilor Flaherty charged that the closure was buried at roughly line 842 of an estimated 1,089 DPW budget line items and never surfaced during roughly four hours of Ways and Means hearings in May: "The failure to bring this issue to the surface is a problem because it should have been, it undermines the transparent quality of the budget process." Council President Moran said the council clerk reviewed Ways and Means hearing recordings and confirmed no discussion of the closure occurred, and he argued that stronger-than-forecast state local aid should be sufficient to cover the gap. The council separately approved a $65,000 transfer to fund the first year of a new collective bargaining agreement with approximately 40 school custodians, covering fiscal years 2026 through 2028 at a 2.75 percent annual cost-of-living adjustment.