For more than three years, the town of Hopkinton has been trying to keep non-residents from sneaking their trash into the town’s transfer station. The issue still hasn’t been resolved.
At Monday’s meeting of the Hopkinton select board, chair Sabrina Dunlap said the town continues to find people from outside Hopkinton and Webster using the transfer station on East Penacook Road, which the two towns jointly maintain.
She said random spot checks by town officials have confirmed the ongoing problem.
“Although it seems like the problem is sort of just steady. It doesn’t seem like it’s gotten worse or better,” Dunlap said.
The town first confirmed the extent of the issue in 2024, when a few Hopkinton select board members carried out random inspections and found residents from neighboring communities, including Concord, using the facility.
Now, Hopkinton has invited members of Webster’s select board to participate in another round of spot checks.
The inspections are intended to encourage eligible Hopkinton and Webster residents who have not yet purchased a transfer station permit sticker to do so at town hall, and also to help identify people from other communities who are using the facility without authorization.
A one-time transfer station permit sticker currently costs $5.
Town officials are also considering longer-term solutions. One proposal would see residents issued a new transfer station sticker each time they register their vehicle, with the sticker color matching the annual vehicle registration decal, making it easier to identify authorized users.
Installing a gate with RFID tags to scan the sticker has also been discussed.
Another option would be to hire a part-time attendant to monitor the transfer station and enforce the rules. The position would cost about $23,000 a year, covering wages, payroll taxes and protective equipment, such as boots.
Under an agreement between the two towns, Webster would pay one-fourth of that cost.
Select board members said the expense to hire another employee would exceed the cost of implementing a new sticker system, making updated permits the more affordable option as officials continue searching for a lasting solution.
