NEWRY — Newry selectboard members Chairman Gary Wight, Vice Chairman Virgil Conkright, and Mandy Berry met Sept. 19. Town manager Loretta Powers, Deputy Town Clerk Amy Henley and Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey were in attendance. Eliot Henley, Amy’s son, acted as “treasurer.”

Corey explained a situation where she had dealt with a property owner who started building a year ago. She said his plan was sent in on a napkin. The foundation was put in without any permits. “He had a permit for a yurt … Next thing I know they had a foundation for a ranch.” She said it has taken her a year of work that she’ll, “never get back.”

Surrounding towns have fines that are up to five times the fee of the building permit fee, she said “You guys have the power to edit the fees in the ordinance, ” Corey said to the selectboard. They approved her request to add a fine of five times the cost of the building permit.

Cemetery changes

Conkright said he would like there to be a requirement that people come to town office if they plan to bury cremation ashes. “They are bypassing, just paying the $1,400 to have the cremation and then taking care of it themselves,” he said. He thought they should post signs at the cemeteries that disallow do-it-yourself burials.

Powers said she would like to talk with other town leaders to see if one common green cemetery might be possible. She said she planned on attending an Oct. 4 green cemetery talk at West Parish Congregational Church in Bethel.

Wight agreed that they should update the ordinance and hire someone to do the extensive work of locating bodies.

Powers said Bethel TM Natalie Andrews recommended a drone service that identifies and updates where bodies are buried.

The office staff will begin to amend the current cemetery ordinance, then bring it back to the board for approval.

Solid waste

Corey  proposed that new homes pay $500 on top of the building permit for dumpster fees (to dump). “They could go back and forth to the dump. No stickers, no punch cards,” she said. “It’s a bargain.”

She said the charge would be a separate line item on the invoice.

“We would take out the requirement to have a roll off?” asked Berry.

“Yes,” said Corey.

“ABC can’t get drivers in Mexico. Casella can’t get drivers. It is not just a local issue.” said Corey of the difficulty getting roll-offs, “It’s a start… this is contractor waste … I don’t think it went anywhere in Bethel. But maybe it will here. I don’t think we need tri-town approval.”

“We can charge whatever we want,” said Berry.

“We charge for our dumpsters,” said Corey, “I don’t want our transfer station employees to have to be police officers.”

She said it was frustrating that we don’t do anything for the contractors. Every one of them owns their own dumpster.

Corey said if the tri-town committee decided to buy scales for the transfer station they would be for contractors to get weighed, not everyone, therefore weekend traffic would not be an issue.

“What’s it cost us? Year after year? It’s going nowhere. Somebody has to bite the bullet” said a resident

“I’ve been fighting this for years,” said Powers. “Two towns do bite the bullet. It’s that third [town] that holds us up every time. It’s the landowner.”

Powers asked if anyone wanted to donate land for their own transfer station.

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