By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — Getting rid of household trash — it’s a necessity of life.

Almost everyone in the community needs to unload the garbage and recycling that accumulates over time. Therefore, the local transfer site has an important place in people’s routines.

Very soon, there will be a change to the days of the week that the Casco-Naples Bulky Waste and Transfer Station (CNBW&TS) facility is open.

Starting Feb. 28, the facility will no longer be open on Tuesday.

Beginning March 1, the new schedule will be Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The hours will remain the same, 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

The Casco-Naples Transfer Site Council voted to make that decision during its meeting on Jan. 26, according to Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward.   

Ward mentioned the proposed change prior to the council getting together. He shared the information with the Casco Board of Selectmen during its regular meeting on Jan. 17.  

“The council is considering changing the times that the facility is open in order to give employees two days off in a row,” Ward said. “They never get two consecutive days off. At the staff level, we came to the recommendation that we will change one working, weekday. It would be closed Monday and Tuesday.”

Employees at the facility have provided feedback,  suggesting the facility stay open on the weekend. In fact, it was very clear from the beginning of this day-change discussion that one of closed days would not be a weekend, Ward said. 

“This is from staff. Someone suggested being closed on a weekend day. The staff adamantly said, ‘No.’ They know how busy it can be,” Ward said. “Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days . . . They’d rather have two days off after the weekend. Then, work Wednesday and Thursday and have Friday off.”

In related business, the towns are looking at the number of bulky waste coupons that are printed out versus what is being used. This information was conveyed by Naples Town Manager John Hawley.

“Each year, we print 2,700 books of coupons for the taxpayers of Naples. Each of the books contains 100 coupons, so that’s 270,000 coupons. In the last two years, only 98,000 and 86,000 were redeemed,” Hawley said. “As you can see only a third of them are being turned in [used].”

It costs $4,000 to print these books, Hawley said.

“It’s kind of a wasteful venture so we’ve been exploring ways to reduce that cost,” he said.

“Every parcel owner gets a coupon book, regardless of whether the parcel is built upon or is vacant. After speaking with a former select-board member who was on the board at the time that the coupon distribution process was determined, he said it was critical that enough coupons were handed out so that waste wasn’t going to start ending up on the side of the roads in the Town of Naples,” Hawley said.

The upcoming conversation with the selectmen will be whether to stay status quo with bulky waste coupons or if the town should print fewer.

The agenda items was tabled at the request of Selectman Bill Adams, who had texted Chairman Jim Grattelo. The next date to discuss the future of the coupons will be Feb. 6, which is the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.