Lincoln rejects plan to charge for trash disposal

LINCOLN – A proposal to charge disposal fees for items such as commercial truck tires and old mattresses was shot down Monday by members of the Town Council.

Some officials expressed concern about proposed fees, saying more tires and debris would end up in the woods, which could cause some landowners to post or gate their property.

Earlier, officials talked about charging $20 for the disposal of skidder tires, $5 for commercial truck tires and $5 for old mattresses.

“I think fees are a bad idea,” said Jeff Gifford, a councilor and member of the town’s solid waste committee. “If we start putting disposal fees on tires and mattresses, they are going to end up out in the woods on somebody’s property, and the result in the end is we are going to have more posted property.”

Chairman Rod Carr said the proposal came as the result of information indicating that Lincoln receives a substantial amount of solid waste compared with other towns its size, especially tires. Some officials said nonresidents were using the town’s transfer station.

“I expect for my tax dollars that I have a place to dump my garbage,” said Councilor Jim Libby.

He passed around several pictures of trash, including tire piles, mattresses, sheetrock and even a paddle boat on land owned by his employer, H.C. Haynes.

He said the company erected its first gate after having to clean up several piles of old shingles, stoves, refrigerators, couches, general trash and, in another area, a pile of 36 tires. He said the cleanup cost the company several thousand dollars.

Gifford suggested the town use more ASPIRE people to help the transfer station workers. ASPIRE is a state program that provides educational and occupational training or employment opportunities to low-income people.

Libby said if insufficient workers were a problem at the transfer station, the town should address it. Officials said the issue would be discussed at budget time.

In other business, Douglas Hollingsworth of Hollingsworth & Associates of Bangor reviewed the latest audit report. “The town is operating in a sound manner,” he said.

During an interview later, Treasurer Gilberte Mayo said the town’s finances were the best they had been in a long time. “Our undesignated fund balance [surplus] is keeping pace with our expenses,” she said.

Mayo said that as expenses keep rising because of inflation and other factors, the town’s surplus needed to rise also. “My target is we have at least three months’ worth of expenses in undesignated fund balance,” she said.

The town budgeted $6.38 million and spent $6.17 million, leaving a balance of $213,610. Also, the town collected $213,610 more in revenues than it had budgeted, resulting in a $416,150 balance at the end of fiscal year 2002 (June 30).

Mayo said the town had applied surplus of $222,403 to reduce this year’s tax rate and had designated a total of $158,199 for reserve accounts.

“The [budget] savings from one year can help offset any spike in the tax rate for future years,” said Mayo. She said the town was putting money away in reserve accounts for designated future projects so the town would not have to raise all of the money in one year.

The town’s undesignated balance or surplus grew by $35,548, from $1.89 million to $1.92 million on June 30.