I opened the paper Sept. 13, the day after I had stopped into the Norway Transfer Station to leave behind my sorted trash, to see this big article about how a hearing has been set to decide if another day off would help balance the budget.

As commented, “Garbage costs money.” Shouldn’t we be looking in all areas of spending before cutting the front line of the business? Let’s look at transportation, fees and whatever recycling costs there are.

If we shut down another day, there still will be trash when the station opens again. So now you have another day of saved-up trash that the same or less number of associates will be disposing of, making their workloads physically and mentally more challenging. This could raise the injury rate and turnover. This could indeed increase future costs, such as workers compensation and insurance premiums.

I know, as a lifelong member of this community, that the towns will issue you “clean it up” warnings if they feel your property needs tending to. Now, if the towns are raising the integrity of their properties, shouldn’t taxpayers be given the resources to be able to take care of their trash?

They are a great bunch of people working at this station. Every time I have gone there I have always been treated with friendly, efficient service, and I believe we shouldn’t throw all the burden on the workers at the station without looking at the big picture first.

Gail Leino Bennett, North Norway