Georgetown committee urges Select Board to bar construction debris from Transfer Station when permits are required

The Georgetown Solid Waste Management Committee recommended on May 8 that the Select Board clarify the Building/Demolition Permit Ordinance so that any project requiring a building permit—whether performed by a contractor or a homeowner—must ensure construction debris is handled privately and not brought to the town Transfer Station.

Committee members discussed an incident in which a resident with a building permit brought construction debris to the Transfer Station. Transfer Station staff initially believed the permit-holder should not have used the facility; the Town Attorney reviewed the Building/Demolition Permit Ordinance and concluded the ordinance does not specify that permitted projects must use a contractor or that debris from a homeowner-held permit is excluded, so the resident was allowed to dispose of the material at the Transfer Station.

Ole Jaeger said staff should take steps that reduce confrontations in similar incidents and suggested documenting vehicle information when problems arise. The committee’s recommendation to the Select Board is intended to remove the legal ambiguity the Town Attorney identified and to provide clear direction to staff and residents about acceptable disposal for permitted construction work.

The recommendation is advisory: it asks the Select Board to amend policy or ordinance language to make the requirement explicit. The committee did not record a formal amendment to the ordinance at this meeting; the Select Board must consider any change and adopt it if members choose to do so.

The exchange about the interpretation of the Building/Demolition Permit Ordinance and the committee’s recommendation were recorded during the meeting discussion. The committee’s other business items included routine operational and fiscal updates; no formal ordinance change was enacted at this session.