JAY — Business representatives voiced concern Monday to selectmen about the possibility of Dumpster pickup service being eliminated.

The subject was not on the agenda but came up under old business when a businesswoman asked the status of Dumpster pickup in the town.

No decision was made. Selectmen agreed after an hour of debate to take the matter up at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, at the town office.

The town currently provides curbside pickup for trash, recyclables and Dumpsters. There are between 45 to 50 Dumpsters that are emptied by the town. Some businesses own the containers while others pay $144 annually to rent one.

Residents overwhelmingly voted in June to keep curbside pickup after selectmen voted to eliminate it to reduce the $1.14 million transfer station budget.

The new proposal to eliminate Dumpster service would cut the budget to under $800,000 for the transfer station, Selectman Tim DeMillo said. He is on a committee researching ways to make the transfer station more efficient.

When the discussion of eliminating Dumpsters came up this fall, business representatives said they were willing to pay a fee for the service. The town is going to no-sort recycling in 2011 and has ordered a truck to handle recyclables and trash at the same time. A truck was initially going to be traded toward the new one but was not after businesspeople requested the service continue.

DeMillo reiterated Monday that he doesn’t believe Jay should be in the Dumpster business. It has provided the service since 1991 at the town’s initiation. Town officials believe Jay is the only town in the state to offer the service.

After reviewing the situation, DeMillo said he believes the town would not be able to condense five days of pickups to four days to provide one day dedicated to emptying Dumpsters. It would also be too difficult to determine who would get the service and who would not, he said. Another issue is that if businesses pay the town for the service, it won’t cover buying a new truck when needed, he said.

DeMillo told selectmen in September that it looked like Dumpster pickup could continue if the way it was done changed. He said the town would pick up Dumpsters from businesses that have one Dumpster for trash and one for recyclables and have one pickup a week.

Businesses with more than one trash Dumpster and more than one recyclable Dumpster pickup a week would have to hire an outside hauler for that service, he had said.

The committee planned to try and develop a fee structure for light commercial businesses.

Another change that was recommended then would require mobile home parks and apartment complexes to have one Dumpster for trash and another for recyclables instead of individual pickup stops.

DeMillo said Monday that businesses could put multiple trash bags out for pickup rather than having a Dumpster.

His recommendation will be that Dumpster pickup be continued through June 30, 2011, to allow everyone currently served to find an outside hauler. He also said that he would recommend that those who have been leasing Dumpsters keep them.

Jay Car Wash owner Jody Therrien said he understood that it was a lot of money the town was trying to save but the system worked for 20 years.

DeMillo doesn’t use the town’s Dumpster service pickup at his family’s businesses and instead pays for an outside service.

He believes “business should take care of business.”

“We’re not trying to get something for free,” businessman Phil Maurais said. He and others said they are willing to pay for the service above what they pay for taxes.

The town offers a reliable service, Maurais said. He said he is concerned that the town will look like a dump with trash everywhere if the town doesn’t do it.

The service town employees provide keeps the town clean, Therrien said.

Resident Ellen Levesque said if not enough business commit to paying extra, then the town could not maintain the service.

It sounds like the town is subsidizing trash pickup for businesses, she said.

“We’re not asking to be subsidized,” Maurais said.

dperry@sunjournal.com