Solid waste committee to study formation of legal waste district

PATTEN — A subcommittee to investigate the formation of a legal solid waste district was established at a recent meeting of the Northern Katahdin Valley Solid Waste Committee.

The move was the result of concerns expressed by committee members about plans to establish a solid waste transfer station in Dyer Brook and the need to establish a formal budget for that purpose. According to state law, such a budget would be beyond the authority of the solid waste committee as it is now organized.

Richard Martin, the committee representative from Island Falls, said he feared that if he were to ask voters in his town to approve the transfer station project at the current time, they might turn it down.

He said he also would not be surprised if Island Falls and Patten withdrew from the committee if a district with a budget and fair representation was not established soon.

Mel Gould of Stacyville agreed with Martin, and said it was possible that his town might decide to follow the example of Sherman, which last month voted to leave the committee and deal with its solid waste on its own.

Others at the meeting pointed out that costs associated with solid waste disposal probably would be too high for some towns to deal with it on their own.

Paul Beattie, town manager for Patten and chairman of NKVSWC, noted that it was time to change the committee to district status and to develop a budget. He subsequently appointed representatives from Hammond, Hersey, Island Falls and Stacyville to a subcommittee to investigate the necessary procedures to form a legal district.

“This committee exists to form an interlocal agreement between towns to deal with solid waste issues,” he said. “We have done that.”

Also at the meeting, Jim Tower of Engineering Dynamics of Bangor, project engineer for the transfer station, presented schematic diagrams of the site being considered for that station, including various design options. The diagrams are available at the town offices of member communities.

Tower informed the committee that before it could apply to the Department of Environmental Protection for approval of a transfer station, it must have a signed agreement with a garbage collector, and a plan to handle recyclable materials.