PARIS – The general manager of the transfer station has been suspended for five days without pay by unanimous vote of four members of the Norway/Paris Solid Waste board.

No one is saying why Alison McCrady was penalized. Maine law requires that such actions must be released to the public. The law states, however, that the final decision must be in writing and, according to the board chairman, Ray Garnett, the board has not recorded details of McCrady’s suspension.

When Garnett was told about the law, he said he would write up the board’s decision and release it to the media as soon as he had consulted with a lawyer. He expected the letter to be released Thursday.

He said he was being especially cautious because decisions affecting personnel are often legally required to be kept confidential.

“The law is just so clear that if you divulge what is going on, you can face lawsuits,” he said.

McCrady said she was not going to make any statements about the disciplinary action.

“I can’t discuss it. It’s kind of tough right before Christmas. I have airplane tickets to pay for to go out to Idaho to see my family. Other than that I have no comment,” she said by phone Wednesday. The board suspended her Tuesday afternoon.

The board also on Tuesday reinstated Pat Varney, an employee at the transfer station who had been suspended by McCrady for three days, according to Garnett. Varney only lost two days of pay as a result of the board’s decision. Garnett said that action was not related to McCrady’s suspension.

Members who voted for the suspensions are Joe Bracy, John Morgan, Scott Emerton and Garnett. Bruce Hanson abstained.

Norway Town Manager David Holt, who did not discuss the case details, said he was not concerned that there were serious problems at the transfer station based on the board’s action.

“I have seen some pretty tough stuff, and it’s nothing like that,” Holt said Wednesday.

McCrady said she had not decided about appealing the board’s decision. By the end of Wednesday, the first day of her suspension, she had not taken any action. She said, too, that the only board she could appeal to is the one that suspended her. Garnett said he was not sure about the proper procedure for appealing the board’s decision.

McCrady, who has worked at the transfer station since September 2004, earns about $40,000 a year. She oversees management of the Brown Street transfer station and the Frost Hill landfill and demolition, a roughly $560,000 annual operation shared by Norway and Paris.

McCrady’s resume states that she earned her bachelor’s degree in botany at Idaho State University in 1993 and received a master’s degree in public administration in 1997 from the University of Maine in Orono. She has also served on an advisory board to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Before working in Norway, she was general manager of the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District for nearly five years.

“I am well respected by my peers,” McCrady said.

She is president of the Maine Resource Recovery Association, a statewide organization that promotes recycling.

Recently, the solid waste board discussed the telephone calls she was making concerning the association while she was working at the transfer station. Garnett said that McCrady voluntarily stopped making the phone calls.

Garnett said her suspension has nothing to do with that issue.