PITTSFIELD – Town councilors were so incensed at the stuffing of trash in the town’s recycling containers at Grove Hill and Somerset Plaza that they authorized the town manager to draft an emergency ordinance that would slap hefty fines on future violators.

Town officials believe the damage was done in protest to the town’s recent adoption of a mandatory recycling program.

“No matter how you look at this, this is criminal,” Mayor Gary Jordan said Wednesday morning, referring to the trash and garbage put into the containers a week ago. The garbage ruined some revenue-producing recyclables and cost the town hours in cleanup time and wages.

Town Manager D. Dwight Dogherty said an emergency ordinance will be drafted for the next council meeting that will set fines at $250 for a first offense and no less than $500 for subsequent offenses. “The council was outraged and felt that the longer this (vandalism) goes on, the more expensive it becomes for us,” said Dogherty.

The trash rendered some of the recyclables unsalable.

Dogherty said the council wanted the ordinance extended to cover the leaving of household trash in refuse barrels in town parks, sidewalk trash containers and in private dumpsters.

The council also authorized Animal Control Officer Rick Curtis to create a town “pooper-scooper” ordinance to deal with pet waste.

Dogherty said the law will be patterned after others in the state and will affect all properties, not just town-owned land. Of particular concern, he said, was the mounting amount of waste deposited in Manson Park.

In other business, the council authorized up to $1,500 for comprehensive water monitoring to keep abreast of the salt level in the town’s wells.

The wells are located by the Sebasticook River in Burnham. Dogherty is concerned that the Maine Department of Transportation’s new policy to use only salt, instead of salt and sand, on Interstate 95 – which bisects Pittsfield – will affect the well’s water quality.

“This way we can begin monitoring right now,” said Dogherty. “I’m not saying the salt definitely will affect our water but if the tests come back with an increased salinity, we could be asked to find a new water source. In that case, I’d have the documentation to sue the state for the costs.”

Emery & Garrett Groundwater, Inc., of Waterville will perform the monitoring, said Dogherty.

According to Dogherty, the council also approved his renegotiation of a recent land purchase to extend a cemetery on Route 2. The land actually was 11 acres less than originally stated, said Dogherty, which will translate into a $7,000 reduction in the purchase price of $39,500.

He said the situation was unfortunate because he had planned on selling some of the phantom 11 acres to offset cemetery improvements.