NORWAY — Town Manager Dennis Lajoie said told selectmen Thursday that he will attend the next Norway Paris Solid Waste board meeting this month to find out why its facility on Brown Street will no longer accept wastewater treatment plant sludge from Norway or Paris.

Letters were sent to Shawn Brown, operator of the Norway Wastewater Treatment Plant, and to Penny Lowe, district manager of the Paris Utility District, on Jan. 26, notifying them that, “NPSW will no longer be accepting (wastewater treatment plant) sludge/screenings, even though our (Department of Environmental Protection) license allows the facility to accept this material, we are not obligated to do so by DEP.” The letter was signed by Dawn Noyes, the Norway Paris Solid Waste board president, who is also the Paris town manager.

“The reasoning for no longer taking this item is once that item is put into the hopper, the bags break and the hazardous material then contaminates the whole trailer,” the letter states.

“Screenings are not considered hazardous waste by the Maine DEP,” Lajoie said.

Lajoie said a similar issue arose more than 20 years ago that was addressed by the Maine DEP and the legal department of the Maine Municipal Association. Lajoie added that Brown has followed the protocols put in place for the past 20 years without there ever being an issue.

In case of a spill, Lajoie said, the policy is to contact Brown who would come and clean it up no matter who caused it.

“The screenings that aren’t going there have to go somewhere,” Lajoie said. “It will have to be trucked off-site at an additional cost to taxpayers.”

In other business, the board heard several concerns from resident Steve Siskowitz who has complained in the past about manure being spread on fields from which, he claims, the runoff is polluting Hobbs Pond. Siskowitz claimed that the farmer has been harassing him, his family and friends who are snowmobiling on their own property. He also wanted to know who owned and is paying taxes on a piece of property.

Lajoie said he would have an assessor check the research done by previous assessor Natalie Andrews to find out the property owner.

Siskowitz invited members of the board to join him and the Norway Lakes Association this spring for a site walk so he can show them the draining ditches where the manure is allegedly polluting the pond.

The board renewed the liquor license for Norway Brewing and approved a special amusement permit for the business so it can start hosting live indoor and outdoor music shows and comedy shows.

Christian Cummings was appointed deputy town clerk.

The first of five meetings for the proposed 2023-24 budget will begin March 6.

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