WEST PARIS – Town officials met recently with a representative from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s wetlands division to request permission to add a second entrance to the transfer station.
It’s part of an effort to make the town’s transfer station more “user friendly.”
According to Town Manager Donald Woodbury, he and Road Commissioner Bill Keach were told that there are still questions to be answered regarding filling an additional section behind the station’s utility shed for the second entrance.
“We learned that the DEP looks at our need for a second entrance as a rather dynamic situation. The wetlands department is concerned that the area may lie in the 4,200 feet allowable to be filled in the stations original permit,” said Woodbury.
“But Bill Keach and I feel that the area behind the shed is outside the 4,200 feet, as that area was filled long before 1995. The area where we would like to add a new entrance has not been filled in before.”
He added that town officials think there is room to fit everything used for the new recycling program behind the shed, and that a lengthy review process would not be necessary, although more meetings with DEP representatives are needed to determine if the town can proceed.
The plan at this time is to meet with DEP’s landfill overseer to see if the town can get a final decision as to whether the area of concern lies in the 4,200-foot area.
“We feel we can go back 40 feet and out to Pioneer Street without including the 4,200 feet, but we will have to wait for another meeting with the DEP before we’ll have an answer,” Woodbury said.
The selectmen are hoping the plan for improving the traffic flow through the station can go ahead in order to eliminate delays during busy hours, especially on weekends.
Comments are no longer available on this story