BUCKFIELD — Selectmen on Tuesday approved safety measures to deal with more traffic and more garbage at the Buckfield-Sumner Solid Waste Transfer Station on Route 140.

Buckfield Town Manager Cindy Dunn informed selectmen Tuesday night about two major issues at the Transfer Station: the 40-yard roll-off container used to compact trash needs to be repaired or replaced and the storage trailer-loading ramp needs to be replaced.

The roof of the container would have to be welded and its wheels reset for between $1,500 and $2,000, according to Dunn.

She didn’t recommend this “band-aid” approach of fixing the container and instead advised that it be replaced. Dunn researched the costs of replacement, emphasizing that Buckfield and Sumner’s population will continue to grow.

Dunn found a 45-yard container for $7,350 or a 50-yard container for $8,450. The 50-yard container is 2 feet longer than the 40-yard container, she said. Funds to purchase either container would come from the Transfer Station savings account, she said.

She noted that history shows these containers last approximately five years and the current one was purchased in July 2011. The Transfer Station has needed to use the spare container on Saturdays because the 40-yard container is compacting at a capacity of 10 tons. 

“They were kind of pushing it a little bit,” Dunn said about the Transfer Station attendants. “They were overriding the automatic stop mechanism. I asked them to stop.” 

The spare container is open-aired and that means ice is being transported along with the garbage at $126 per trip, Dunn explained.

Since July 2011, this container has compacted roughly 3,300 tons — or 6.6 million pounds — of household trash, according to Dunn.

“I was actually kind of surprised,” she said. “That’s a lot of garbage.”

Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Cheryl Coffman made a motion to purchase the 50-yard container and instructed to check on salvage capabilities for the soon-to-be-decommissioned container. 

“I think that gives us a little bit of room to grow,” Coffman said.

Selectmen unanimously approved the purchase.

Dunn said she would bring the purchase approval before the Sumner Board of Selectmen for that body to address its portion of the cost.

The other issue concerned Transfer Station attendants’ use of the forklift to carry bales of material on the storage trailer-loading ramp, which has rotted wood, Dunn said. Public Works employees installed a temporary cold-mix ramp for the winter, but Dunn said it failed. They later created a cement ramp with safety barriers.

“Another thing that was happening with the other one, because it is so narrow, and the way he has to jimmy the forklift around with the side-by-side bales, he was almost falling off,” Dunn said. “It had to be so precise there was no wiggle room. . . . I saw this as an extreme . . . safety (issue).”

Selectman Scott Violette wanted to know the cost of the project.

The initial estimate from a cement contractor was around $2,000, Dunn said. She estimated it would cost the town between $1,500 and $1,700 after purchasing the supplies and doing the work themselves.

“It came out awesome — I mean, awesome,” Dunn said. “The ramp is as wide as the trailer. If he falls off that, he shouldn’t be driving a forklift,” she said laughing.  

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