December 11, 2013 publish date
In the City by Dana H. Fowler, P.E., Public Services Director
With the end of the year approaching, we would like to pass on some information about
the upcoming holidays and changes for the new year that may affect you regarding solid
waste issues. First, the landfill and recycling center will be closed on the afternoon of the
day before Christmas. The landfill and recycling center will be open from 7:30 to 11:30
am on December 24th, Christmas Eve Day. Both the landfill and recycling center will be
closing at 11:30 am on December 24th and will be closed all day on December 25th in
observance of Christmas.
There will be no Pay As You Throw (PAYT) collection on Christmas Day. However,
there will be a PAYT collection on Saturday, December 28th for those Presque Isle
residents that normally would have had their PAYT collection on December 25th.
The landfill and recycling center will also be closed on January 1st, New Year’s Day.
The PAYT collection normally scheduled for Wednesday, January 1st will be done
instead on Saturday, January 4th. In the future, all PAYT collections done in Presque Isle
on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday that fall on a holiday will be collected on Saturday
of the same week. Please remember to set your PAYT bags out by 7am on collection
day.
Every year we receive numerous inquiries about whether Christmas wrapping paper is
recyclable. The answer is that wrapping paper is not recyclable and must be treated as
refuse. The mills that accept paper for recycling specifically forbid wrapping paper. If
you are a hardcore recycler, you may want to consider using the colored comics page
from the Saturday newspaper for wrapping gifts because the newspaper can be recycled.
If you are wondering what to do with your natural tree after Christmas, there are several
sites where you can drop off your tree at no cost. These include the former Cunningham
School lot, Presque Isle Landfill, Presque Isle Recycling Center, Gil’s Sanitation, Star
City Sanitation, Mapleton Town Garage, Washburn Snowmobile Club, and the Perham
Town Garage. Please remove all decorations from the tree and do not leave your tree in a
plastic bag.
There will be a change in fees for the disposal of construction and demolition debris
(CDD) starting January 1, 2014. State law requires all landfills to charge a special waste
fee of $2 per ton for CDD for the new year and this fee will be added to the landfill
disposal fee. The City must collect the special waste fee and submit it to the State of
Maine. All other disposal fees will remain the same.
At the time this article is being written, the City Council is considering an increase in the
cost of the PAYT bags, which would probably take effect on January 1, 2014. Please
check the City web site, channel 16, or this newspaper for the latest information. If you
have any questions about Pay As You Throw, recycling, or landfill rules, please contact
Page 2 Star Herald “In the City” Article
the Solid Waste Division at 760-2712 or visit the City's web site at
www.presqueisle.govoffice2.com.
Star Herald Column end of year 121113.docx