WELD – Townspeople are scheduled to decide Thursday if they want to buy a covered compactor for regular trash and set it up at the transfer station.

Residents will be asked if they want to spend up to $28,000 on the proposal to come into compliance with state waste disposal regulations.

The special town meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.

Don Chipman, chairman of the town’s Transfer Committee said the town has been using an open-topped Dumpster for residents to put their trash in.

“We were out of compliance,” Chipman said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection requires that a container be covered due to the elements, he said.

The committee initially considered constructing a building but then decided the town could save money by buying a compactor.

The town’s trash loads typically run about 4 tons each trip, he said, and the compactor would allow approximately 12 tons to be compacted before a container would be needed to be hauled away.

Article 2 is to see if town will vote to do the following at the transfer station:

• Purchase a compactor, a covered container and a doghouse.

• Pour a 10-foot by 40-foot by 8-inch reinforced concrete slab.

• Anchor 8-inch by 30 feet by 3/8-inch steel runners to slab (may be a labor cost to set the steel).

• Run electricity to the compactor.

Article 3 is to see what sum of money the town will vote to raise or appropriate for purchasing the equipment and preparing the site for the equipment.

The committee and selectpersons are recommending $28,000.

Selectpersons recommend appropriating $10,000 from the transfer/storage facility account and appropriating up to $18,000 from the town’s surplus account to cover the expense.

Voters will also consider allowing selectpersons to enter into a maintenance contract with Atlantic Leasing Corp. for an annual fee of $850.

The last article asks if the town will agree to retain the existing Transfer Station Committee so they can continue to work on issues such as recycling and cost-cutting at the transfer station.
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