Following years of misuse, the town of Raymond will remove two Dumpsters from the town office parking lot Monday and install surveillance cameras on the town office.

For about two decades, the town has maintained Dumpsters on the edge of the municipal parking lot. Originally, they were intended strictly for town office use. But when summer residents complained that the weekly curbside pickup was too infrequent and poorly timed, the town installed larger 10-cubic-yard Dumpsters that have since acted as an informal town dump, according to Town Manager Don Willard.

In recent years, as the town has maintained one large Dumpster for trash, and two for recycling at the parking lot, the site has become a popular location to dump bulky waste that would typically require disposal fees, according to Public Works Director Nathan White.

“It’s been progressively getting worse over the years,” said White. “In the last three years it’s been terrible. In the last two years it’s been deplorable.”

Willard, who expressed agitation over the misuse, believes the dumping has accelerated this year.

“Lately there’s been what seems to me a marked increase,” he said. “It’s almost a daily basis. We’re seeing it every pickup cycle.”

Recently, a large TV was deposited at the site, breaking one of the Dumpster lids, according to Willard.

“Last week a very large television was thrown from some elevation onto the Dumpster, breaking the lid,” he said. “It was probably thrown off a big truck or dumped off a dump truck, probably. There was such velocity and force that it broke the lid right off.”

In recent weeks, the town has removed one of the recycling Dumpsters and posted prominent signs indicating that the remaining two Dumpsters would be removed. Yet the overnight dumping has continued, Willard said.

“They both have been full of trash and bulky waste,” Willard said. “Things like furniture, televisions, air conditioners, microwaves, automobile parts, tires, construction and demolition debris, commercial debris of various kinds. They continue to be bombarded with all manner of waste, including inappropriate materials, despite the signage advising of their removal. I guess people feel that they’re still good to go until the 22nd.

“Apparently it is a dumpster of last resort for those disinclined to pay the tariff for proper disposal,” Willard added.

The Public Works Department visits the site multiple times a week to collect the waste and dispose of it. There are bulky waste disposal sites in Naples and Westbrook, where people can dispose of television sets, appliances, and chemicals, but none in Raymond. The town has accrued fees of approximately $8,500 annually in recent years to dispose of the waste, according to White.

White said it is not just Windham residents who are dumping items at the town office parking lot.

“I want to say a good portion of that trash we’re seeing there is coming from out of town,” he said. “We’ve opened up people’s trash bags and pulled people’s names out and they live in Casco, Naples, Poland, Windham.”

“Your commuter traffic coming across the Egypt Road to get to the turnpike,” he added. “That’s where we’re getting the Casco traffic and the Naples traffic and the Poland traffic.”

Town officials are concerned that people will continue to dump waste at the town office property, even after the Dumpsters are removed Monday. That’s why the town is installing surveillance cameras on the building, said Selectwoman Teresa Sadak.

“It’s a quick dump, a quick place to get rid of their stuff without being seen, and because of that we’re going to take them out of there, and we’re going to put video cameras up to watch to see if there’s any more illegal dumping,” she said.

“I’m frustrated and also I’m a little bit shocked at some of the stuff we’ve seen lately,” Willard said. “We really have to get control of this situation.”

Raymond officials are aghast at the misuse of Dumpsters located in the town office parking lot. The two remaining Dumpsters will be removed Monday. Courtesy photo