WATERFORD – Selectmen voted Wednesday to take no action on two cleanup projects.

An ash pile at the transfer station will remain there until the town has contacted the state Department of Environmental Protection about it. Debris from a fire on Bear Pond also will remain where it is.

Selectman David Marston received a bid of $36,950 to remove the ash pile from the transfer station and transport it to the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town. The bid is an estimate based on an approximate 500 cubic yards of waste material at a weight of one ton per yard. At the 2005 town meeting, voters appropriated $30,000 from the dump improvement fund to cover the costs of the project.

Marston explained that prices are up this year due to increasing diesel fuel costs, and are likely to continue to increase.

The ash pile has been at the transfer station for nearly three years. In May, test results showed that it contained arsenic, barium, and lead in levels that Marston said are too high for it to remain at the transfer station, but safe for a landfill.

Resident Chuck Truman suggested the town demand that the DEP, which mandated that the pile be removed, pay for the project. He said he has seen the tactic work on more than one occasion.

Selectman Norman Rust moved that the town postpone removing the pile until it has contacted the DEP. Marston seconded the motion, and Rust went on to discuss the Bear Pond cleanup. When resident John Martin pointed out that no vote had taken place, selectmen voted unanimously in favor of Rust’s motion.

The town has received one bid to clean the fire debris at Pam Avedisian’s property on Bear Pond. Selectmen have written letters to Avedisian requesting that she clean up the debris in the year since the fire, but no action has been taken. Before he resigned as a selectmen last month, Whizzer Wheeler said that when the July 26 anniversary of the fire passed, the town could clean up the debris and bill Avedisian.

Town Clerk Brenda Bigonski said that if the town cleaned the site, and Avedisian does not repay the bill, a lien could be placed on the property in the amount of the cleanup cost. According to Wheeler, the town could then begin the legal process of taking the property.

The bid from Wilson Excavating in Waterford totaled $21,000. Removal of 15 fire-damaged trees was priced at $4,500. Cleanup, to include installing a silt fence, removing burned waste and the septic tank, and seeding disturbed areas, was estimated at $16,500.

“I don’t know why the town would want to spend $21,000 to clean it up,” Marston said.

“That kind of money is a lot,” Rust answered, “but what is it doing to the pond?”

Resident Rickie Hall offered to contact the DEP to ask at what point it would take action to protect the pond. Selectmen agreed to table the issue.