FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to renew a contract with Waste Management Disposal Services of Norridgewock for bulky waste disposal at a rate not seen since 2001.
Before the decision, the board considered a proposal from Alan Archibald, owner of Archie’s Inc. of Mexico, to take over the town’s bulky waste disposal and recycling.
The five-year contract for $56.50 a ton with the Norridgewock service reflects prices from 2001, Town Manager Richard Davis said.
The service had proposed a 2 percent increase, based on the Consumer Price Index, for a new contract amendment starting Nov. 1. The increase would have made the price $66.49 per ton.
Waste Management wanted to keep the town as a customer. A previous offer of $58.65 per ton until November 2015 was made. Through further negotiations with Peter Lachapelle of Waste Management, the contract was amended to five years at the $56.50 rate. The new rate saves the town $5,000 a year.
“That’s an extremely good tipping fee,” Davis said, advising the board to accept the offer. “If it’s not broke, why fix it?”
Archibald brought the board an estimated price sheet for his services at the request of Selectman Drew Hufnagel, who was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. Hufnagel has been researching other available options in an effort to save the town money for waste disposal.
When asked where he would dispose of bulky waste, Archibald said it might be Norridgewock or “wherever I can get rid of it cheapest.”
He declined to publicly disclose what he was paying for tipping fees. He later conceded that the rate offered the town was lower than what he pays.
Davis questioned whether Archibald’s idea to bring waste here, creating a regional waste collection to subsidize the Farmington operation, would be a popular idea among residents. The idea would require public hearings and a town meeting vote.
“We’re working under a bit of a deadline,” he said. The current contract with Waste Management expires Nov. 1.
The $70,000 budgeted for bulky waste disposal is lower than that budgeted by area towns, Davis said.
Recycling is another story, Davis told Archibald. The town is waiting on figures and plans from Sandy River Recycling.
“We may want to discuss recycling,” Davis told him.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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