NORWAY – Town Manager David Holt told selectmen Thursday night that a controversial fee hike by Norway-Paris Solid Waste is the corporation board’s decision alone.

“It’s their issue to decide,” said Holt, who suggested that a meeting with the Paris and Norway selectmen’s boards plus the solid waste board could be arranged if necessary or desired for discussion purposes.

The issue escalated in the past several weeks after the Norway-Paris Solid Waste Committee came under scrutiny for its decision to more than triple dumping fees for commercial haulers including at least one local businesses.

The committee recently voted to increase fees for commercial haulers from $7 an item to $25 for items that did not come originally from Norway or Paris, but will not put those fees into effect at least until its next meeting, Oct. 20, according to Ray Garnett, chairman of the board.

Local businessman Chris Shorey of Main Street Furniture and Appliances said he is being unfairly treated and lumped into the category of a commercial hauler. He has publicly questioned the methodology of the Norway-Paris Solid Waste’s decision in determining the true residency of the item, saying any item his business takes from a customer in return for a new item is owned by the Norway business. The company has been able to dump these items for the past 30 years but because of a change in the business and a resulting significant increase in furniture being disposed, NPSW officials say it now considers the business a commercial hauler.

Parties concerned about the fee hike had apparently asked to be placed on the selectmen’s agenda Thursday night, but in an undated memo to the Board of Selectmen released this week, Holt questioned what the point was of a meeting with the board.

In the past the Norway Board of Selectmen “has occasionally offered opinions to Norway-Paris Solid Waste,” Holt wrote in the memo. “Sometimes NPSW has deferred, but sometimes it has not. So when recently the solid waste board asked for an opinion on fees for furniture (there appears to be a fair amount of passion surrounding this issue) my cynical side wondered that given the history I have seen, NPSW might be asking for support on a thorny issue more than asking for an opinion.

“That is not to say that select-board participation in the NPSW situation might not help, but only when those involved are willing to calm down, be honest, communicate and be open to compromise. This requires setting aside past personality differences, and that’s hard to do. If this is going to be one of those deals where folks stubbornly stick to their guns and stop listening to each other, then it’s pretty tough for either select-board to play an effective role. In case anyone has forgotten, neither select-board has a direct role in the fees and cannot change the decisions of NSPW,” Holt said in the memo.

The town manager wrote that the Board of Selectmen can appoint new directors when terms expire if, he wrote, “the current members don’t follow the right to know laws, listen respectfully to citizen input and truthfully and clearly explain the reasons for the decisions that the NPSW board makes.”

“Lastly,” continued Holt, “at this point if either the NPSW or the citizens who disagree with them feel that something can be accomplished by meeting with either select-board, I suggest that it should probably be a joint meeting of NPSW and both select-boards. At least then, everyone hears the same thing at the same time. Otherwise, I see this being drawn out with no hope of any successful resolution.”

When Selectman Bruce Cook asked what it would take to remove some of the authority or power from Norway-Paris Solid Waste, Holt told him town meeting approval by both Norway and Paris voters would be needed.