PITTSTON — For town officials, the cost of using the Richmond transfer station was too high.
In mid-November, after discussions with town officials across the Kennebec River, the Pittston Board of Selectmen opted to not seek renewal of an agreement that allows Pittston residents to take their bulky waste to the transfer station. The last day Pittston residents will be entitled to use the transfer station in Richmond is Dec. 31.
“We tried to negotiate a different kind of deal with Richmond, but it was hard for them to do,” said Roger Linton, chairman of the Pittston Board of Selectmen. “We feel for the amount of participants that are now using the transfer station, the amount of money we’re paying isn’t worthwhile.”
At an annual cost of $9,000 with 36 stickers sold, that’s $250 per user.
Debra MacInnes, secretary to Pittston selectmen, said of those 36 stickers, some have been used only once or twice, and some have not been used at all.
“We tried to work out alternatives, like upping the sticker price or some other options,” Linton said. “But it was difficult for Richmond to do that. Everybody has budgetary things to deal with in their towns. We don’t expect them to do anything that’s impossible.”
Richmond officials said they were happy with how the arrangement had been negotiated, and they weren’t inclined to renegotiate a lower price.
“That’s the way town government goes,” said O’Neil LaPlante, chairman of the Richmond selectmen. “I pay for the Fire Department and I hope I never have to use it. We pool our resources for services we need.”
Richmond Town Manager Janet Smith said if Richmond had adopted a per-sticker pricing plan, individual stickers would have cost about $207 each.
That deal has been in place for two years.
Three years ago, Pittston officials voted to end the town’s contract with the Hatch Hill Solid Waste Disposal Facility, which cost $40,000 a year. At that time, they said they would seek a letter of intent from Pine Tree Waste in West Bath to comply with the state law that requires cities and towns to designate a waste disposal facility. The switch to Richmond occurred because Pine Tree Waste was not open on weekends.
According to the website of Casella Resource Solutions, the operator of Pine Tree Waste, the facility is now open Saturday mornings.
Some town officials have favored using Pine Tree Waste because the town bears no cost for its residents to use it.
Nate Chapman, general manager of Pine Tree Waste for the southern part of Maine, said the facility is open to anyone, and it charges $50 per ton for recyclables and $103 per ton of bulky waste.
The town’s Budget Committee is expected to review the matter, and Linton said it is expected to come up in March at Town Meeting.
“We’re going to call Augusta and see if we can get figures from the surrounding communities,” Linton said. “Maybe we’ll take those options to the public.”
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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