OXFORD — The Board of Selectmen announced Thursday that starting Aug. 1, the Transfer Station on Smith Road will be open Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon, the same hours as now.
It will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
Now, the station is closed Mondays and Thursdays.
Transfer Station Manager Ed Knightly requested the change so employees can have two days off in a row. He will also consider ways to allow workers to rotate their schedules to provide an occasional weekend off.
Knightly also requested authorization to write a request for proposals for a waste hauling service.
Oxford has no contract with its provider, Almighty Waste, which has once again raised its disposal rates to $245 to haul the 50-yard trailer, $440 to haul the 100-yard trailer and added a $100 tag fee for each time it returns a trailer. It is also harder to schedule pickup dates, which means the trailers are being taken before they are completely full.
“We will pay $38,000 to haul the 50-yard three times a week and $46,000 to haul the 100-yard twice a week,” Knightly said. “That’s $83,000. I told them their fees are going up and the service is going down and he basically said if we aren’t happy with it to go elsewhere. He’s grown so much he can’t keep up.”
Selectmen asked Knightly to proceed with requests from waste hauling services.
The board also conditionally approved the purchase of a second 50-yard roll-off dumpster for up to $12,000.
Knightly had submitted the request with his 2023-24 budget. He was authorized to get an updated bid and sign a purchase agreement if the price does not exceed that amount.
Selectmen also discussed plans to expand public sewer service and revenues over the next year. Sewer Department Superintendent Zhenya Schevchenko reported there are 273 pipe connections available for customer use, with some able to serve up to 19 houses, and others requiring pump service. Schevchenko is updating the service application ahead of a marketing push to increase customers, starting next month.
The process will dictate specifications that have to be followed and will allow customers to choose their own contractors. Schevchenko will aggregate a list of preferred contractors. The service agreement will call for a one-year enrollment period; fees for future customers may be raised after July 1, 2024.
Town Manager Adam Garland and Finance Director Sharon Chammings will work with Schevchenko to finalize the application and execute the program.
Also on Thursday, selectmen voted to table the annual elections for chairman and vice chairman until all five members are present.
Vice Chairman Dana Dillingham, who won reelection Tuesday for another three years on the five-member board, was sworn in by Town Clerk Wendy Friburg during the meeting.
Oxford Town Clerk Wendy Friberg swears Selectman Dana Dillingham into office Thursday during the board’s meeting at the Town Office on Pottle Road. Dillingham was reelected Tuesday for another three years. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat
Because Selectman Caldwell Jackson was absent, Chairwoman Sharon Jackson, Dillingham, Scott Hunter and Floyd Thayer voted to table the elections.
In other business, three 603 Diesel Truck shows were granted mass gathering permits for Oxford Plains Speedway on July 15-16, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
The board also unanimously voted to renew Oxford Plains Speedway’s liquor license.
The Oxford Historical Society received approval to transfer ownership of the Kay House Museum on Pleasant Street from the town to the society, if voters approve in November. Direct ownership will allow the society to apply for grants to make improvements to the museum and for additional programming.
Selectmen unanimously authorized the society to use the Station Meeting House on King Street for programming and meetings this year and will pay for a portable bathroom at the site from July until October.
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