WEST PARIS – Selectmen voted unanimously Thursday to no longer accept used propane tanks at the transfer station.

According to transfer station attendant Wayne Theofrastou, he has been seeing propane tanks during certain times of the year in the metal bin, which pose a danger to anyone working around the bin or depositing other trash in the bin.

“I don’t get a lot of old tanks, but during the spring I often get two or three a month. I remove them from the bin and have taken the valves off them myself, but that can be dangerous,” said Theofrastrou.

He also said that he has had one pop that was in the bin.

“No one got hurt, but someone could have if they had been in the right place,” he said.

New state and federal laws require the tanks to be stored in a special location and removed regularly. With the change in the laws, a greater expense would be added to the $95,000-per-year cost of running the transfer station and selectmen said people will simply have to find some other way to dispose of the tanks.

In checking with D&E Sanitation of Bethel, the town’s trash hauler, it was learned that there are only three options the town can use regarding the tanks.

The options given by D&E were:

• Take the tanks and hold until a minimum of 25 have been collected and D&E will pick them up. (It was stated, however, that that option would be expensive.)

• Have the transfer station attendant take the tanks to the Lewiston/Auburn waste facility to avoid the dumping fee.

• Do not accept tanks at all.

After discussing the three options, selectmen felt the best option for the town would be the third option.

“Let’s not take any more,” said Selectman Howard Gurney. “Let the people find some other place.”

A sign will be posted notifying patrons of the change and the policy will go into effect immediately.

Selectmen also voted to enter a service contract regarding the town office copier purchased earlier this year.

Town Clerk Cheryl Shattenberg told the board the cost would be $750 per year. The contract will cover parts, labor and supplies. The supplies will include toner for up to 36,000 copies with a cost of 2.3 cents per copy beyond the 36,000 copies.

Shattenberg added that they were paying more than that for the items covered by the contract for the old copier.

She told the board she will be registering tax liens at the Oxford County Registry of Deeds office in South Paris on Monday, July 7, for a total of $43,000.

To get the paper work done so the liens can be registered Monday, selectmen approved overtime for her to work as many hours as needed Saturday.

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