By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

NORWAY – Talk of consolidating solid waste and recycling services throughout Oxford County continued Wednesday, even without members of the Norway-Paris Solid Waste Board of Directors.

The Norway-Paris corporation and the Oxford County Regional Solid Waste Board of Directors are hoping they may save money by working together. Wednesday’s meeting at the Norway town office was a follow-up to a meeting held June 1, at which members of each organization agreed to research possible cost-cutting measures.

“I thought our last meeting there, there was really a lot of energy,” said county board Chairman Wayne Hakala on Wednesday. He and Norway-Paris Solid Waste General Manager Alison McCrady agreed discussions could continue despite the absence of her board.

Marie Bartlett, recycling educational director for the county, said she had a hard time collecting solid waste figures from several towns, but had found that the average cost for hauling and dumping a ton of garbage in more than 20 regional communities was roughly $88.07. Prices on her list ranged from $85 in Hebron to $178 in Lincoln Plantation.

Warren Sessions, who manages the county recycling plant on Brown Street, said he felt the costs had to be examined more closely because the numbers could be skewed by how often a town dumped its waste or how far waste had to be hauled.

The group also discussed purchasing equipment for collecting and hauling trash.

Hakala said the cost of a tractor and roll-off truck, and the distance that waste would have to be carried, needed to be considered.

“I know damn well it would pay for itself and everything, that’s a given,” he added.

Ferg Lea, planning division director for the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, encouraged everyone to look closely at all aspects of consolidating and hauling waste privately. Some towns in the state have taken over their own waste disposal operations without thoroughly examining the costs, he said.

It was agreed that McCrady and Sessions would talk after their boards hold their next regular meetings in early July and arrange for another joint meeting.

It also was agreed that Oxford County Regional Solid Waste should agree to run the solid waste disposal operation at the Brown Street Transfer Station.