SUMNER – Selectmen from Sumner and Buckfield met Tuesday night to discuss rising costs at the Buckfield-Sumner Solid Waste and Recycling facility.

Buckfield selectmen are concerned that contractors are dumping waste at the site, which is solely for the use of residents of the two towns.

Buckfield Selectman Skip Stanley said he has heard “off the hip remarks from people who have seen or heard about” contractors “cutting deals with homeowners to take care of their own debris.” Residents are allowed to dump one truckload of waste each day the transfer station is open. Stanley worried that a homeowner could dispose of waste created by a contractor one load at a time over the course of a few weeks, at no charge to himself or the contractor.

However, he said, “even if the homeowner is remodeling his entire house by himself, should the taxpayers of Buckfield and Sumner swallow the cost of the project through our transfer station?”

Sumner Selectman Tom Standard reasoned that since all taxpayers share the benefits of the transfer station, it is not unfair for them to share the costs. “We all have a house,” he said, “and we all may remodel that house, so is it necessarily wrong that we as the taxpayers pick up that tab?”

Selectman Mark Silber of Sumner cautioned against creating new rules or fees without more research into the problem.

He suggested the towns could weigh trucks as they come into the transfer station to get a better idea of how much is being dumped and by whom. He also noted that a swap shop where people could leave old furniture and other bulky items that other people may want would cut down on the amount of waste being dumped. A separate area for brush and other organic waste that would decompose on its own would also save money.

If the towns created any new rules or fees, Silber said, they would have to hire someone to enforce them. “You don’t want to create a rule that’s not enforceable,” he said.

The two towns agreed to give more thought to the matter and meet again to discuss it. “We’ve got so much on our plate right now,” said Stanley. “We’re not going to make any changes right now.”