LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen voted Monday to renew permits for three of four trash haulers to operate curbside pickup in the town and bring that trash to Jay’s facility under Livermore Fall’s agreement with that town. They also gave those haulers, Tri Town, Todd’s Disposal and RSC, 60 days to bring their recycling rates up to 20 percent.

A fourth hauler, J & J Disposal owned by Archie’s Inc. in Mexico, was given 30 days to give notification to its clients that Livermore Falls would no longer be paying the tipping fees for the waste collected by that company. Without a permit from Livermore Falls, the company would no longer be able to haul trash from residents in town to the Jay facility, Town Manager Martin Puckett said.

Prior to selectmen making the decision, Puckett passed out cardboard pieces to members of the public to check information on it. He said he and highway foreman Bill Nichols went up to Jay’s station to check haulers’ loads coming from Livermore Falls recently and saw cardboard coming out of one of Archie’s trucks that had addresses from places in Wilton, including SeniorsPlus, and from McDonald’s Restaurant, which Livermore Falls doesn’t have.

Archie’s owner Alan Archibald of Mexico was unavailable for comment Monday night.

In just one load, in five minutes, there was quite a bit of cardboard dumped that would have been charged to the town, Puckett said. The town doesn’t pay tipping fees for recyclables but it does pay Jay $30 per ton handling fee, he added.

There is a caveat, Puckett said, that maybe someone in Livermore Falls is collecting cardboard from other towns or the cardboard got stuck in the truck, which could have happened.

“I understand what you did and I appreciate it,” Livermore Falls transfer station attendant Fred Nadeau said.

He pointed out that people who come to the town’s transfer station also have cardboard with other towns addresses on it because they buy goods in those towns.

“There was no way that came from people’s residences,” Nichols said of the cardboard finding.

Archie’s only recycles cardboard, Puckett added.

Puckett said more inspections would be made both at the Jay station and of trash put out curbside for collection.

Drive around town and residents are recycling, Puckett said.

When asked if Puckett spoke to Archie’s about the finding, he said, the owner said he could understand cardboard getting stuck in the truck, but he denied any trash being hauled from another town with tipping fees put on Livermore Falls’ account.

Without a permit for the Jay facility from Livermore Falls, Puckett said, Archie said he would take the trash to Norridgewock.

Nadeau also pointed out that the town needs to tighten up on its recycling at the transfer station.

He’s seeing more black bags than the required see-through bags, Nadeau said.

He’s also seeing bags of recyclables in the Dumpster rather than the solid waste container.

He said he tells people who come in with black bags that they need to have clear bags, but the next time they come in, they do the same thing.

He suggested that he’ll take names if the person continues to ignore his warnings and Puckett could send them enforcement letters. There is a fine for not recycling listed in the town’s Solid Waste Ordinance.