Installing a scale at the Bethel/Newry/Hanover Tri- town Transfer Station, is under discussion. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

BETHEL — A 60-foot-truck scale for $59,114 may be installed at the Bethel/Newry/Hanover Transfer Station, but not until Bethel town officials receive more information regarding additional costs.

The cement platform for the scale has not been priced yet. Tree work may be needed if the entry is expanded and while not needed now, the board has decided to price out the cost of a roof for the scale, too.

For several years the tri-town committee could not come to a decision on changes to the transfer station located on Route 2 in Bethel. At a recent Newry select board meeting officials publicly blamed Bethel town officials who, they say, have consistently voted against changes at the transfer station.

“Area contractors are required to rent dumpsters for projects over $25,000,” said Jackson. “We demand them [the contractors] to get the roll-offs. There is a limited supply of roll-offs. They can’t get the roll-offs, they can’t get them emptied in time, so they use the transfer station,” said Newry Town Administrator Loretta Powers.

Bethel Town Manager Sharon Jackson said, “We are raising $850,000 [per year] to run the transfer station here. We could take in $250,000 [per year] to offset that.”

When the Bethel select board met on Wednesday July, 17, Jackson had already provided a Maine Scale quote to Newry Town Administrator Loretta Powers and Hanover Select Board member Jim Barker. Both Newry and Hanover boards voted in support of the scale.

Bethel meeting

Much of the two and a half hour select board meeting was about the scale. Maine Scale, LLC representative Tom Boughter handed out a packet and talked about the installation and use of several area towns’ transfer stations scales.

Boughter said the Bethel installation would take one day and stressed that the only prep work required currently was the cement platform. The set up of the current transfer station would remain as is, but for a few minor changes. The bottle and can refund shed would likely be moved from its current location and the transfer station entrance would likely be moved down Route 2 toward Rumford, allowing for better traffic flow at the entrance. He said staffing will be minimally impacted.

The tri-town transfer station committee will iron out inconsistencies when they meet and figure out costs regarding car stickers. Currently, in Bethel, three transfer station stickers per homeowner are allowed, while Newry allows one per household. The five dollar stickers do not expire.

Boughter said based on his research the Town was missing out on $21,000 per month in contractor fees. He told a story of a Harrison town official who told him he was being taken advantage of by contractors. “All I had to do was dig a hole [for a scale] and they stopped coming,” the official told Boughter.

Bethel Select Board Chair Michele Cole said before the board made a decision it would need to look more closely at the implementation tools and also may need to consult the Maine Department of Transportation about the potential new entry,

Regarding the savings to the towns she asked, “Do we have any figures right now? I don’t know where this is coming from.”  Boughter offered his feasibility study in the packet.

Bethel Select Board member Frank Del Duca asked, “Are we opening the door for bigger trucks and construction?”

“They are here right now, ” responded Powers.

Bethel Town Manager Sharon Jackson will deliver the Bethel select board concerns to the tri-town committee and return with responses in August at the next Bethel select board meeting on Aug. 7 at  6 p.m. at Bethel Town Office.