Select Board moves to request Casella and landfill reimburse conservation commission expenses amid disagreement

The Dalton Select Board voted to request reimbursement from Casella and Granite State Landfill for expenses the conservation commission said it incurred. The chair moved that the select board, on behalf of the conservation commission, ask Casella and Granite State Landfill to reimburse the town for those conservation commission expenses; the motion was seconded and carried.

A board member objected, saying an individual had acted without prior board approval: “He was spending town money without talking to the board to see if it was okay,” the member said. The chair responded that the conservation commission acted as a commission and that the commission has its own checkbook and authority under state statute to act on conservation matters, so the expenditures were not a unilateral action by one individual.

Resident Paul Devinell asked how recovered funds would be treated if paid to the town; the clerk and chair explained any funds paid to the conservation commission would be recorded as unanticipated revenue for that commission and could require a public hearing before being moved into other funds, depending on timing and accounting rules.

Board members asked the clerk to include conservation commission emails in the meeting record and to provide canceled checks or other documentation showing payments the conservation commission made. The board agreed the select board should formally request reimbursement from the companies named and pursue documentation as needed.

The motion to request reimbursement was carried; board members also discussed follow-up steps to assemble supporting documentation for the request.