BETHEL — Bethel selectmen Monday expressed interest in exploring the feasibility of continuing a commercial food service waste collection/composting operation, currently provided by a local landowner, on a different site at some point in the future.

Since 2016 Dean Richmond of West Bethel has been collecting commercial food service waste and composting it on his Pleasant River Farms. Among the larger businesses he collects from are Sunday River Resort, the Bethel Inn, Gould Academy and Sunday River Brewing Co.

Richmond told selectmen Monday that he has collected about half a million pounds of food since the project started, and has been increasing collection amounts overall as the years have passed. But, he said, he may want to back away from the operation in the future, and wondered if the town would be interested in relocating it elsewhere.  He mentioned as an example the town’s wastewater sludge disposal site on Route 26, not far from the Transfer Station.

Any location would likely require some investment by the town, he said, possibly a concrete pad or something similar for the compost material to rest on, as well as electrical power and equipment to move the compost and remove snow.  Funding might be explored through a Rural Development grant, Richmond said.

The operation itself might then be run by a private operator leasing the land from the town, or perhaps in exchange for processing the town’s sewer sludge, he said.

Selectboard Chairman Peter Southam said the compost operation has saved the town money by keeping food out of the waste stream, and could generate some cost-offsetting revenue through sale of composted material to gardeners.

Southam said he thought it was worth continuing a conversation on the town’s future options.

Selectman Andy Whitney agreed.  ” It would be good to know how feasible it is,” he said.

Bus garage, marijuana, sewer

The board also authorized a Nov. 5 vote in Bethel for a SAD 44-wide referendum on a proposed $2.4 million new bus garage (see related story), to be located at the Telstar complex.  While signing the warrant, selectmen expressed concern about the cost of the project.

Whitney said he thought there are more affordable alternatives that could be considered.  He noted that Bethel is facing an increase in sewer fees and Bethel and Woodstock are also seeing their SAD 44 taxes increase because of last year’s vote to change the local school cost-sharing formula to shift some of the tax burden from Newry to the other towns.

He said the bus garage situation should not affect students much, at least not directly.

Selectmen also set annual marijuana licensing/permit fees for medical and adult use marijuana facilities. Whitney said he favored relatively high fees to help the town recoup any expenses it might incur for enforcement or other related costs or negative impacts. The fees set ranged from $200 to $15,000, depending on the type and size of the facility.

In other business, selectmen considered a proposed list of topics for ordinance revision for the Ordinance Review Committee to undertake. They decided on food trucks, building permit fees and requiring private disposal on construction sites for the ORC to address first.  Other topics for the future might include expanding abutter notification distances, dumpster screenings, screening and buffering, “adverse impacts” in the Site Plan Review ordinance, shared driveway access, expirations on subdivisions and home occupation businesses.

The board also scheduled a sewer fees workshop for Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. at the town office, to consider how to distribute an increase in fees they said are needed in order to cover an expected revenue shortfall.

Selectmen also held a lengthy discussion with members of the Veterans Park Committee on the type of boundary markers, fencing and shrubbery locations and the future of existing trees near the property line. They made decisions on the first three but held off regarding the existing trees until a future date.