Greenville selectmen approve non-resident trash disposal rules

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
    GREENVILLE — Based on the need for Moosehead Lake region visitors to dispose of their household trash more easily and legally, the Greenville Board of Selectmen approved a non-resident “yellow bag” system last week.
    In Town Manager John Simko’s report to the board, he noted that long-term visitors or campers can’t legally dispose of their trash; so “without a designated place, they find either private Dumpsters or the woods. A fee system for non-residents would resolve this.”
    So the town will now sell 55-gallon yellow trash bags, identical in capacity to the residents’ orange bags, for $5 each. The non-resident can stuff as much rubbish into the bag as they can fit and drop it off at the transfer station. No dump sticker is necessary.

    “If they arrive without a yellow bag, they could buy one there,” Simko wrote.
    The board also approved letting non-residents access the transfer station if they purchase a sticker annually for $25. The clerk will punch three holes in the sticker so it can be differentiated from town residents.
    Currently, the first transfer station sticker for Greenville residents is free, but any additional ones are $25 each.
    The town will also start collecting glass at the transfer station starting Sunday, Aug. 3. “We need to educate the public that glass must be separated from the waste stream and taken to the transfer station, not the recycling center, and not placed within their curbside recycling.  Also, the glass containers should be empty and should not have any covers (lids),” Simko wrote.
    In other news, Simko also reported that the Maine Department of Transportation recently met with him and three current or past legislators — Paul Davis, Pete Johnson and Duane Lander — and agreed to add a three-foot paved shoulder to the current gravel shoulder along Route 15 from the old Cabbage Patch restaurant to the Squaw Mountain Resort Road. “This will make travel for pedestrians and bicyclists much safer than before,” he wrote. This section of road is scheduled to be resurfaced in early August.
    Following this paving job, the Lily Bay Road from the traffic light to the end of the pavement in Kokadjo is scheduled to be resurfaced in late August and early September. 
    The Greenville Board of Selectmen also unanimously agreed to change the name of North Shore Road to Sanders Point Road since there are currently four roads named North Shore in the Moosehead Lake region.
    The board also asked Simko to work with Greenville Police Chief Jeff Pomerleau, Greenville Fire Chief Matt St. Laurent and C.A. Dean Ambulance Coordinator Kevin Springer to draft a letter to the Piscataquis County Commissioners, asking that they consider changing some other duplicate street names to avoid confusion during response by emergency service providers.
    There will be a public hearing at the Greenville town office on Wednesday, July 23 at 6 p.m. on the town’s Community Development Block Grant application to assist Abby Freethy, owner-operator of Northwoods Gourmet Girl, at 6 p.m.
    The state has invited the town to submit a full application for this $50,000 grant request, according to Simko, which would help her purchase additional equipment for expansion. There is no local match required.
    The next regularly-scheduled Greenville Board of Selectmen’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 6.