|
SALE OF TRANSFER STATION STICKERS
The decision to implement the policy for the sale of dump stickers for the Transfer Station on Buttermilk Lane in Thomaston did not come easily. Representatives worked on this for the better part of a year in public meetings of the Three-Town Solid Waste Corporation Board of Directors at which residents from all three towns, both full time and part time, attended and asked questions, offered opinions, and made complaints about the proposed policy. The board, after many months of deliberation, settled on a policy that is strong enough to eliminate the use of the transfer station by non-residents, while keeping the costs to a minimum. Please keep in mind that the transfer station is a project managed by three separate towns that saw the wisdom of entering into an inter-local agreement to benefit the taxpayers of all three towns. No system is perfect. But one policy, fairly administered by the six representatives [two from each town], provides the employees of the transfer station the direction they need to protect the investment and trust of the taxpayers. Please keep in mind that the $15 fee for a sticker is for two (2) years - 24 months; 104 weeks. Any vehicle that enters the transfer station for the purpose of depositing trash, mixed solid waste, cardboard, metal, and single stream recyclables is required to display a valid sticker on the interior driver side windshield of said vehicle. For many years, the use of a single, free-floating sticker from one vehicle to another was the norm in many households, but no more. Because of a number of instances of misuse over the years, a policy was created to control costs of transferring waste to EcoMaine and other destinations for the majority of the residents of the three towns. Under the new policy, everyone who is a resident of either Owls Head, South Thomaston, or Thomaston who uses the transfer station will pay 14.4 cents per week [the cost of a sticker for two (2) years] for the privilege of using the transfer station. One alternative is to engage the services of a contract residential hauler. The cans into which we deposit our waste come with a price each time they are trucked out of the transfer station. It is in everyone's interest to do what we can to control those costs.
|
