WELLS — The town’s solid waste transfer station, which was damaged by a fire in December, is open for business and should be fully functional again within a few weeks.
Town officials have decided to continue working around the damaged location during regular hours of operation, 8 a.m. to 3:55 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays.
The fire, which occurred at 3 a.m. on Dec. 14, damaged equipment including the town’s trash compactor, a dump truck, a front end loader and an office located in the building. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Personnel worked hard to reopen the facility just 30 hours after the blaze.
According to a statement by Wells Town Manager Jonathan Carter, the town voted to restablish a solid waste provider and oversee the lease of the building to a private company. Through an open bidding process, Wells selected Oceanside Rubbish of Sanford.
“Plans were underway to lease the building to Oceanside and possibly to coordinate Oceanside’s hauling,” he said. “The lease would allow the Wells transfer station to build a new processing line farther back on the property.”
The 30-year-old, 7,900- square-foot building and its contents are under reconstruction to fix damages caused by the fire. The area created along the back lines of the property is working as the new transfer station.
“We built a new processing area in the back of the previous location, where people can drive and put different products out, such as recycling or garbage,” said Carter.
The building was covered by insurance at the time of the fire, so fixing it will cost the town nothing, Carter said.
The only things that need immediate replacing are the station scales, where items are weighed and the cost of disposal is determined. The new weight scales should be installed within two to three weeks.
Until the scales are replaced, station employees are making “judgment calls” on how much to charge for each drop-off. Based on a brochure describing specific weight-to-cost ratios, the facility makes the estimate based on the individual item (for smaller loads) and charge by yards (for larger ones).
“People are beginning to learn how to use it, so I think it’s going to start working well,” Carter said. “Once the scales are in place and working, they will allow us to charge more appropriately. We’re currently estimating weight, but it doesn’t make sense to do that for bigger loads.”
For more information, call 646-8647 or visit wellstown.org/248/Transfer-Station.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
