WOOLWICH

Following a contentious year with Pay As You Throw, Woolwich voters may be asked to revisit a pay-per-bag option once again at this year’s Town Meeting.

Resident Ben Tipton has submitted a petition asking residents to consider bringing back a pay-per-bag plan for waste disposal on the town warrant, which the board of selectmen will consider on Tuesday night. 

Tipton’s petition was verified last Wednesday with 178 valid signatures, according to Town Administrator Lynette Eastman.

The PAYT program, which required local residents to purchase special 15-gallon and 30-gallon bags to dispose of their trash, was narrowly approved by voters at last year’s Town Meeting. A total of $36,000 was also reduced from the town’s trash budget in anticipation of its success.

However, PAYT was short-lived, as weeks after its implementation in September a petition was submitted calling for a referendum vote. Residents repealed the program in November with a vote of 616-453.

Tipton, who has spearheaded the effort in past years, spoke about his petition, saying that “we can continue to bury our money in a landfill somewhere” or the town can “save the money” and return it to the citizens. He said the petition also specifies that any money saved through the program will go toward lowering taxes in town.

“We cannot ignore the fact that this program was successful,” Tipton said. “There was no roadside garbage, very few complaints about the bags and it saved the town $50,000 in five months.”

When asked whether he thought it was too early to implement another program, Tipton said the town could not “afford to wait” another year.

“If people want to waste another year and another $100,000, then that’s their prerogative,” he said. “But me personally, I don’t want to waste another year and waste more money.”

Resident Don Adams, who circulated the petition that called for a referendum vote on PAYT, shared that he was still skeptical that the program was the best option for the town.

“Five months it cost the people, by buying bags, 20 grand,” he said on Friday. “So yeah, there’s a shift in the cost. Maybe the town itself saved the money, but they just shifted the cost out of somebody’s pocket.”

Both Adams and Tipton encouraged voters to attend Town Meeting this year, which will take place on Saturday, May 7.

Selectwoman Allison Hepler said she was looking forward to discussions surrounding the future of the pay-per-bag program.

“In some ways, it will be a more informed discussion because now we actually have five months of data for Woolwich, rather than relying on estimates from elsewhere,” she said. “From an environmental standpoint, it’s a good discussion to have.”

Due to weather, tonight’s selectboard meeting has been postponed to Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Woolwich Town Hall.

Looking back

• A PAYT PROGRAM, which required residents to purchase special 15-gallon and 30-gallon bags to dispose of their trash, was narrowly approved by voters at last year’s Town Meeting. However, Woolwich residents repealed the program in November with a vote of 616- 453.

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