PARIS — A representative of the Norway-Paris Solid Waste board told selectmen Monday evening that the board wants town offices to issue free dump stickers annually.

Robert Ripley said waste station directors want to ensure that only Norway and Paris residents are using the station on Brown Street in Norway. The stickers could be issued when residents register their vehicles, he said, suggesting the sticker color could change each year, the same as vehicle inspection tags. 

Residents who don’t register a vehicle could acquire a sticker at the transfer station, he said.

Town Manager Vic Hodgkins said he met with Norway Town Manager Dennis Lajoie about the proposal and neither of them are on board with it.

“I’m not excited about this idea for our towns, and neither is the Norway town manager, who said that I could speak on his behalf, Hodgkins said. “This is a PR nightmare in the making.”

He said it would be a hassle for residents to go to the town office to “get a stupid new sticker every year just to go to the dump.”

Hodgkins said he’s not opposed to a sticker program, but it should be administered through the transfer station. 

Town Clerk Elizabeth Knox asked for information on the station, such as hours of operation and costs for disposal of goods not allowed in the hopper.

“We haven’t had an updated brochure in this office in the better part of 10 years,” she said.

There will be a public hearing for Norway and Paris residents to discuss the issue Jan. 25 at the Paris Fire Station on Western Avenue.

Also at Monday’s selectmen meeting, Police Chief Hartley “Skip” Mowatt thanked the highway and fire departments for their coordination in responding to weather-related crashes and fires.

“It takes a community to do what we’ve been doing,” he said.

Mowatt also praised Project Save Me, a program to help people addicted to illicit substances.

“Our residents that are on heroin, crack, whatever it may be, they come into the Police Department and say ‘I need help’ and Project Save Me says, ‘You’re going to get that help,’” the chief said.

And addicts don’t have to worry about facing legal repercussions, he said.

Mowatt said they are told: “‘No, I’m not going to charge you for the dope you have. I’m going to take it, put it in my evidence locker to have it destroyed later on, and I’m not going to charge you.'”

Fire Chief John Longley also gave a report to selectmen, saying returning to an on-call department was a difficult challenge, but firefighters have risen to the challenge.

Their motto?

“Adapt and overcome,” Longley said. 

Longley said the department has more members and is receiving applications.

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