JAY – Selectpersons approved three ordinances to go before the voters in June at Monday evening’s meeting.
The board approved certifications for a June vote on amending the Shoreland Zoning, Sewer Use, and Recycling and Waste Disposal ordinances Monday, allowing them to proceed to a public vote this summer. The Shoreland Zoning changes will align the town’s ordinance with Maine Department of Environmental Protection changes made in 2015. Code Enforcement Officer Ronda Palmer noted that while those changes were not mandatory, the DEP had highly recommended they be adopted by towns.
Another change to Shoreland Zoning, separate from the DEP adjustments, added the criteria for Parker Pond to receive the resource protection designation. The pond, which can serve as a source of drinking water, was previously included on the resource protection map but did not meet the ordinance’s criteria. The town previously consulted with DEP, the water districts, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments and held meetings on the subject.
The amended Sewer Use ordinance would include some operational changes, according to Superintendent Mark Holt, adding some currently-used departmental policies into the 2010 ordinance. The updated ordinance also incorporates the abatement process and some of the special circumstances that can impact sewer fee billing.
The amended Recycling and Waste Disposal ordinance was discussed in late 2017. It effectively mirrors the town’s current practices, limiting curbside pickup to apartment buildings with five or fewer dwelling units, as well as not picking up trash from hotels, restaurants, warehouses, grocery stores, industrial sites, the school district or medical facilities. One exception to this, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere noted, was a restaurant that had recently gotten rid of its dumpster and begun using curbside pickup.
The amended ordinance would also eliminate the clear bag requirement for trash – Jay has not enforced that requirement ever since it stopped selling clear bags. While the initiative was designed to improve recycling rates by allowing easy visual inspection of trash, what instead happened was that non-transparent bags left on the curb simply became a nuisance. Town officials were typically contacted when that occurred, followed by the police. In the end, bags generally had to be hauled off anyway.
The ordinance does allow the board to reinstate clear bag requirements in the future. Recyclables in Jay are processed by single-sort and therefore no bag is used at all – recyclables are left in a bin by the curb.
Using the ordinance to memorialize the town’s recycling and solid waste operations is designed to allow Jay to put its curbside pickup service out to bid. The next fiscal year will be the last of a three-year contract with Archie’s, assuming the $123,000 cost is funded at today’s town meeting vote.
The ordinance also eliminates mention to household hazardous wastes that aren’t accepted at the transfer station: paint, paint thinners, bleach and other cleaning products.
Selectpersons were unanimous on certifying the Shoreland Zoning and Sewer Use ordinances for a June vote: four to zero and five to zero, respectively, with Selectperson Gary McGrane absent for the Shoreland Zoning vote. The vote for the Recycling ordinance was four to one in favor, with McGrane opposed.
In other business, the board approved expanding up to $10,000 for an environmental study connected to the 20-year-old North Jay Wastewater Treatment Facility. The engineering firm Wright-Pierce is reviewing different options for the aging facility and wastewater disposal in North Jay, some of which would potentially involve running line near wetland areas. The funds will come out of the Sewer Department budget, with any overdraft at the end of the fiscal year to be covered out of the department’s reserve. Holt noted that both Jay and Livermore Falls were limiting sewer plant expenditures as they await the engineering studies.
