WEST PARIS – Selectmen agreed to consider joining the regional waste corporation Thursday.

After meeting with Warren Sessions, director of the Oxford County Regional Solid Waste Corp., and members of the board of directors, selectmen said they would set aside a decision pending further study and a town meeting to take the issue before the town’s voters.

The main reasons that led the board to delay a decision were that the board felt it needed to conduct a comparison study in relation to the current $120,000 solid waste budget and what could be saved by joining the corporation and approval from the town’s voters.

During the discussion, selectmen expressed interest because they are searching for ways to cut the solid waste budget but they made it clear that they have concerns regarding being locked into a regional organization. Their main concern was the debt service incurred with regionalization, such as the town’s membership with SAD 17, a debt the town can not get away from without plunging its taxpayers into a major budget increase.

Answering those concerns, OCRSWC director and Woodstock Selectman Steve Bies said, “We have never gone into debt since the corporation was formed in 1990 and we have never considered debt service in any way. The corporation is well capitalized and has money available for new equipment or other costs as needed.”

An estimated cost of joining was quoted as being around $16,800, depending on when the town joins. Based on the town’s population of 1,722, membership would cost a one-time allocation fee of around $11,200 and annual dues estimated at $5,600 per year, a figure that fluctuate up or down according to the recycling market at any given time.

As explained by OCRSWC board member Cynthia Hamlin of Waterford, the figure given Thursday was only an estimate based on a proposed budget for 2005 which will be completed at the board’s next meeting on Nov. 10.

Selectman Bill Birney estimated it would be about two and a half years before the town saw any significant savings by joining the corporation. But the board as a whole felt the issue is worth a comprehensive future study.

The town’s current contract with D&E Sanitation of Bethel does not run out until Dec. 31 so it was felt there is time to conduct a thorough study before making a decision on how to take the matter to the people to get their opinion.