HANOVER, N.H. (AP) – Town officials on both sides of the New Hampshire-Vermont border are urging Dartmouth College to do more to keep the annual party known as Tubestock under control.

Tubestock, which attracts about 1,000 young people to the Connecticut River each summer, is not a college-authorized event, and the school has tried for years to distance itself from the event. But officials in Hanover and Norwich, Vt., say Dartmouth must begin playing a leadership role. Representatives from both towns are scheduled to meet with College officials on Thursday to discuss how to better manage the party.

Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said she’s concerned about the dangers associated with the event itself, the expense of paying police to patrol it and the cleaning up of debris left behind for weeks afterward.

“We shouldn’t have to be mopping up this event,” she said.

Although no one officially organizes the event, Hanover could “bill the college and let them collect money from students if we can’t bill students,” she said.

Norwich Town Manager Stephen Soares said one of his town’s major goals is to reduce, or even eliminate, alcohol use at the event.

“I didn’t get the sense from anyone that there was an attempt to stop the event because it’s a fun day for a lot of people,” Soares said.

Roland Adams, a Dartmouth spokesman, said in a written response that college officials were looking forward to the meeting and hoped to see “continuation and enhancement of our collaborative efforts to address the safety, behavioral and environmental concerns associated with this event.”

Tubestock draws Dartmouth students and alumni, youths from neighboring communities, and people from farther afield every July. Armed with homemade rafts and flotillas and beer, participants enter the water off a public boat launch in Norwich.

Norwich Police Chief Doug Robinson has called the party a tragedy waiting to happen.

“Luckily, nothing serious has happened, other than some minor scrapes and bumps and cuts, but the way it’s going, with all the alcohol, it’s just a matter of time,” Robinson said. “It’s not a good mix – the water and that many kids on makeshift rafts drinking.”

This year, New Hampshire marine patrols monitored the party, but Hanover did not add any extra patrols. Vermont has provided police patrols for the last three Tubestocks.

“We’re there so we don’t have to explain to parents, This is what happened to your kid,’ ” Robinson said.