WATERFORD – Annual town meeting voters Saturday agreed with the Transfer Station Committee to spend $27,950 to try no-sort recycling in hopes of increasing participation and saving money.

Despite another snowstorm, about 75 residents turned out at the Waterford Fire Station to approve that request and the town’s $1.1 million budget as part of the 79-article warrant.

The majority of voters agreed to the new recycling method with the stipulation that $25,000 of the requested $27,950 be taken from the Dump Improvement Fund rather than raising money from taxes. The fund has more than $40,000 in it.

The vote followed lengthy discussion by proponents and opponents to the plan.

“I don’t know how we’ll save money. There’s no guarantee our recycling will increase,” said Rockie Graham, who asked voters to stay with the Oxford County Regional Solid Waste Corp., which Waterford has had a relationship with since 1990.

The Waterford transfer station handles waste for Waterford, Stoneham, and Albany and Mason townships. Waterford pays 67 percent of the station costs, Stoneham 12 and Oxford County 21.

Waterford had 144 tons of recyclables in 2006 and 2007, which represents 14 percent of the total weight of waste.

Members of the Transfer Station Committee told voters that last year the town paid the county waste system $5,920 to accept and remarket the town’s recyclables. They argued that if the town agreed to no-sort recycling, which allows residents to dump all recyclables in one bin, that cost could be eliminated as well as $2,500 for a part-time third person employed at the station.

Warren Sessions, manager of the county system, said if the point is to save money, voters should stay with the current system. He also pointed to the 446 televisions and monitors that Waterford residents recycled at the county system last year. Televisions and monitors are considered universal waste, which would not be accepted in the no-sort process offered by Casella Waste Systems, he said.

The waste disposal company operates throughout the Northeast.

Voters were cautious with expenditures after selectmen’s Chairman John Bell announced before warrant action that an audit of town funds has revealed that between $160,00 to $180,000 of town money is missing.

“It’s a substantial amount,” Bell reminded the voters. He said $50,000 to $60,000 was unaccounted for in fiscal 2007 and the rest the year before. There is currently a criminal investigation under way, which prohibited Bell from going into detail, but he said each town employee is bonded for $100,000 and the town is in touch with its insurance company.

The town’s auditor is also going to present a number of recommendations to the board to prevent a recurrence in the future.

“I assure you we will be implementing all his recommendations,” Bell said.

Several voters questioned a few requests including the purchase of one acre of land.

“We don’t want to be just robots raising our hands,” Scott Wells said. The $10,000 purchase for the land that abuts the town garage was passed along with other Highway Department requests including $150,000 to continue tarring, surfacing and/or resurfacing Waterford roads and $24,000 for a new backhoe. Voters also amended a request for $175,000 to $200,000 for maintaining winter roads.

Voters also OK’d spending $79,000 to regrade and pave the remaining gravel portion of Mill Hill Road, which runs from routes 35 and 37 in South Waterford village east to the Sodom Road in Norway. Although an amendment was made from the floor to reduce the amount to $25,000, Finance Committee members said that would do nothing to get the project completed, and the majority of voters agreed.