BELGRADE — The Board of Selectpersons is proposing fee changes to the transfer station to avoid unexpected costs of disposing of clean wood and bulky waste.

A public forum at Tuesday night’s meeting at the Belgrade Community Center for All Seasons drew no complaints and only a couple of questions for clarification of the proposed changes.

Town Manager Greg Gill said the changes would make fees for disposing of clean wood and and bulky waste more precise. 

The transfer station now charges on a sliding scale by the truckload based on the type of truck and height of the waste.

The proposed fee changes call for the disposal of clean wood waste to cost $3.20 per a cubic yard and disposal of bulky waste to cost $12 per a cubic yard.

The fees represent the average cost for the town to dispose of the waste.

“We’re not trying to make money,” Gill said. “We’re just trying to break even.”

Disposal of the clean wood last year cost Belgrade almost $20,000, double what the town anticipated, Gill said. Part of the cost came from a larger percentage of the wood being contaminated, meaning it couldn’t be used for biomass.

Gill said an additional employee was also hired to watch what’s brought in more carefully, so they don’t get “another $20,000 surprise.”

Paul Koenig — 621-5663
pkoenig@mainetoday.com