NEWRY – A small group of residents at a special town meeting Monday approved an additional $30,000 to cover waste disposal costs for the rest of the year.

According to Administrative Assistant Loretta Berry, the money is to supplement the $130,000 raised at the annual town meeting last March. The original amount has not been sufficient in light of the rising costs of solid waste disposal.

“This is the second straight year we have had to hold a special town meeting to keep up with solid waste costs,” Berry said.

“We had to raise $30,000 extra last year too to keep up with rising waste disposal costs. It gets more expensive each year and it’s hard to estimate accurately when putting together a budget to be voted on at the annual March town meeting,” she said.

She said the additional money approved Monday will be drawn from the undesignated, or surplus, account, and does not mean any sudden increase in taxes.

Newry is a member of the Tri-Town Solid Waste Association, which also includes the towns of Bethel and Hanover.

In other business, there was brief discussion of a proposed general mutual aid agreement regarding fire and other emergency organizations among local towns, which the selectmen made clear they support without question.

“The idea for a general mutual aid agreement is being discussed in meetings involving fire chiefs from around the area, and we support the idea completely,” Berry said.