The price per ton for the drop off is jumping from $32.50 to $75, effective immediately, following a unanimous vote by the Board of Selectmen at their meeting last Wednesday.

Actually, the unorganized territories (UT's) are getting a bargain, according to figures prepared by Town Manager John Simko. By one accounting, the average raw cost to process a ton of recycled material is $149.92. Calculated by material type, the cost can vary from $79.70 to $255.04 per ton. Returns on the materials vary and run from $41 to $186 per ton, depending on the type, Simko reported.

Recent volume increases due to mandated recycling voted in at last summerTatko Brotherss town meeting have sorely tested the recycling center's capabilities. Reorganization at the site and addition of certain aids have worked to clean the center up, Simko said, adding that with the new efficiencies in place, the cost to process the material may decrease slightly.

On the other side of the recycling center building, the town's public works department is moving in at last, Simko told selectmen. After many long delays, most of the work contracted by Bob Ifill is complete, Simko reported, though in some instances another contractor completed the job. Certain items remain to be finished, including fixing a leak in the roof around the vent pipe, installation of a soil pipe, and provision of two more 250-gallon storage tanks for waste oil.

The town has sent a certified letter to Ifill stating that these items must be completed by Friday at 3 p.m., at which time he is to cease and desist from doing any further work on the building. After inspection conducted by Simko and other officials, the town will determine what is necessary to complete the job. Any costs for another contractor will be directly deducted from the town¹s final payment to Ifill.

A tax abatement request from Greenville Housing Corporation was denied by the board. Based on its recent change in tax status to a 501 (C)(3), Greenville Housing submitted a formal request for an abatement for each of the past three years, despite the fact the organization had been advised previously by town legal counsel that no such abatement was due legally. The housing corporation will be granted an abatement amounting in a 50 percent reduction in evaluation for the 2002-2003-tax year.

A request to sign a resolution put forth by the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) in support of a proposal for local property tax relief was tabled until the next meeting, which would follow a public meeting to present the MMA package scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 30, at the Monson Elementary School.

The proposal calls for the state to actually pay out 55 percent of the state's cumulative school budgets in subsidy as required by law instead of the 43 percent it currently pays on average. It would also require the state to pick up 100 percent of the special education costs incurred by a district. Passage of this referendum would shift an estimated $200M from the towns' and cities' property tax burden to the state. Support of the resolution would allow non-election municipal staff to help in the collection of signatures on petitions requesting the question be put on the November 2003 ballot. The best time to get citizen signatures is at the polls in the prior election year, Simko explained.

A special town meeting to consider a number of issues, including the acceptance of Community Development Block Grant funds for water and sewer construction in the Greenville Industrial Park, has been pushed back until mid-October or later. The warrant will be presented for approval at the next selectmen's meeting.

Bids for a 1977 International Pumper Fire Truck and a sickle-bar mowing machine were opened and awarded. Don O¹Halloran of Old Town won the bid for the fire truck, coming in at $3,157. The mowing machine went to Rowe Construction of Greenville, which submitted a bid of $350.

A public hearing to discuss redistribution of existing streetlights has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the fire hall prior to the regular selectmen's meeting.