CAPE ELIZABETH – As investigations are launched this week, Cape Elizabeth mourns the loss of Herbert Dennison, the retired former public works director who died Nov. 24 in an accident at the town’s recycling center.

Dennison, 79, was walking his trash up to the compactor building located on Dennison Drive around 10:30 a.m., when a Ford Explorer, driven by Christine Sharp-Lopez, 72, of Hunts Point Road struck him as she was backing up to the hopper, according to police Chief Neil Williams.

The force of the collision pushed Dennison through a latched chain link fence into the compactor, he said. According to Williams, the compactor was not operating at the time of the accident.

Cape Elizabeth police Capt. Brent Sinclair on Monday said the police department was scheduled to conduct a vehicle inspection on the SUV on Thursday, Dec. 4, to determine whether Sharp-Lopez had stepped on the gas rather than the brake. Another possibility is that her vehicle malfunctioned, he said.

“We will be looking to see whether the brakes were functioning properly,” Sinclair said.

Once the investigation is complete, a report will be sent to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether any charges will be filed against Sharp-Lopez, said Sinclair.

The town has also hired an engineering firm to conduct a safety review this week at the facility.

Sinclair said he knew Dennison and his family well and that the accident last week was “a sad day for the town. He was well known in the community.”

Dennison was appointed public works director in 1966 and retired from the position in 1981. The town’s recycling center is located off Spurwink Avenue, down an access road called Dennison Drive, which was named after Dennison at the time of his retirement, said Town Manager Michael McGovern.

Dennison served the town for 26 years, including a stint as acting town manager in 1978, said McGovern.

McGovern said he first met Dennison in 1977 when he served as an intern for the town. In 1978, then-council Chairman Henry Adams and Dennison recommended that McGovern assist Dennison while the council searched for a permanent town manager.

“We go way back,” said McGovern. “He was very dedicated to his position and extremely focused on serving citizens. His focus was always serving the community.”

McGovern said one of Dennison’s major projects was helping to convert the old dump to the modern facility it is today.

“It was about a month after I started, that I can remember standing with Herb watching the last fire at our open burning dump and watching the first few cars come into our new transfer station,” McGovern wrote in a memo to the Town Council on Monday.

“This past week was a tragic one for the Dennison family and for the town of Cape Elizabeth,” he wrote. “First and foremost, my deepest sympathies are with Herb’s family.”

According to Dennison’s obituary on the Hobbs Funeral Home website, Dennison grew up in Cape Elizabeth and attended local schools. He graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School in 1953 and worked on the Raymond Jordan Farm. He later served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

After retiring as Cape Elizabeth’s public works director, Dennison worked in maintenance at the South Portland Police Department. He was also a member of Cape Elizabeth Hose Co. 2, as well as the Mason’s Hiram Lodge 180 in South Portland, the Eastern Star Longfellow Chapter, and the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club in Cape Elizabeth.

The gun club’s president, Tammy Walter, said while Dennison didn’t serve with her in the club, she remembers first meeting him while working as a secretary for the Cape Elizabeth police 35 years ago.

“He would come in and see us,” said Walter, who was 20 at the time. “He was this lovely, amazing man. I remember him being very kind.”

Safety review

McGovern and Public Works Director Bob Malley decided Monday to hire an engineering firm to conduct a safety review at the transfer facility. According to McGovern, Woodard & Curran of Portland will be onsite this week to begin the assessment and recommend any short-term improvements to the facility.

Woodard & Curran will also help to develop a long-term study that will require “some intense citizen involvement,” said McGovern.

“I am not sure the facility has defects, but the way people have been using it has been changing over the years,” said McGovern. “As a result, it’s become more congested.”

McGovern said as part of the safety improvements, the town would look into whether it should offer curbside collection of solid waste, rather than residents using the transfer station. In 2003, 91 percent of Cape Elizabeth residents in a survey said that they did not support such a program, he said.

According to Malley, McGovern proposed a comprehensive review of the recycling center and transfer station to the Town Council in September.

“In the capital stewardship plan, there was a recommendation to look at the entire operation (of the facility),” including whether to replace the 38-year-old hopper, said Malley.

“We are concerned about vehicle movements and pedestrian movements happening in a very confined area,” he said.

According to Malley, residents are encouraged to back up their vehicles to the compactor to dispose of their trash. Due to the high traffic volume, however, some residents walk their trash to the facility. Malley said there is enough space in front of the compactor for three parked cars.

Malley said that he learned a lot from Dennison through the years and respected Dennison’s dedication as public works director.

“Herb was a very dedicated individual to this position during his tenure with the town,” said Malley.

McGovern said this week that he wanted to acknowledge and thank those who responded to the Nov. 24 incident, including the public works, police and fire departments that showed him “once again how compassionate and dedicated they are (to) serving Cape Elizabeth.”

According to Dennison’s obituary, he had a wife, two sons, a daughter, brother, sister, several grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His hobbies included gardening, boating, plowing snow and mowing lawns with his John Deere tractor.

A funeral service was held at Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland, followed by burial at Riverside Cemetery in Cape Elizabeth on Nov. 29.

Herbert DennisonHerbert Dennison, a retired public works director in Cape Elizabeth, died last week after an SUV pushed him into a trash compactor located in the above building at the town’s recycling center.