Fayette will have to find a new place to send its trash and recyclables.

Jay is closing its transfer station to outsiders as of July 1, and Fayette selectmen are looking at their options to replace the site, which they have used for decades.

The only other town that takes its trash to the transfer station is Carthage, in Franklin County.

The next public discussion on the issue is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at the regular Board of Selectmen’s meeting at Fayette Central School.

Fayette Town Manager Mark Robinson said the town will be considering proposals to work with Livermore Falls, Readfield and Mount Vernon for recycling and recently received a presentation from ecomaine, in Portland, that would allow Fayette to continue to use that site directly or indirectly for its single-stream recycling.

The town also is looking at options involving Augusta’s Hatch Hill landfill. Augusta city councilors were scheduled to vote Thursday on a plan to reduce per capita fees — from $15 to $10 — it charges to seven other municipalities that use the facility. Augusta already reduced its tipping fees.

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Fayette’s 550 households contract to have their trash picked up by one of three private haulers in town, paying on average $20 per month, Robinson said. In turn, Fayette picks up the cost of the $35,000 to $36,000 annual tipping fee plus a contract fee to Jay.

“There are a lot of different options and a lot of moving parts,” Robinson said, adding that the discussion covers disposal of regular household trash, also known as municipal solid waste, as well as bulky waste and demolition debris.

“There is also an obligation to residents and to the three private haulers that have been serving the town dutifully,” Robinson said.

The town manager also noted that the year-round population of 1,200 more than doubles in the summer, and that the town is forecasting an increase in tipping fees as the year-round population grows.

Selectmen have scheduled a special town meeting for 7 p.m. Feb. 29 at Fayette Central School to seek voter approval to reauthorize borrowing money to repair and replace oil boiler parts at the school.

Robinson said the air handling controls are 20 years old and have a number of problems, and the boiler needs to be replaced so the school has two sources of heat. The school now is heated with a wood pellet system.

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While voters last fall authorized the School Committee and School Department to spend up to $225,000, the town is looking at going through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, so it is seeking reapproval for the same things and the same amount of money, Robinson said.

Robinson said competitive bids also will be sought from local banks.

According to the warrant article, up to $125,000 is to be bonded to pay for engineering services to design and fix the heating system as well as modify a water softening system. An additional $100,000 for the project is to come from the municipal educational capital reserve account.

Robinson said the bond bank offered the lowest rate — 1.67 percent — on money the town borrowed last fall to do road work, purchase public works equipment and refinance debt, but approvals for the school boiler project were not in place at the time.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams


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