The Kennebunk Select Board approved a contract extension with Casella Waste Systems this month that would allow the company to continue curbside waste collection for the town.

The contract is an extension of an original 10-year contract with Casella, and locks Kennebunk into another five years of curbside waste collection and delivery to Ecomaine.

Voters approved a 30-year trash and recycling contract with Ecomaine in February, transferring the town’s waste services from Casella to Ecomaine.

The contract did not include curbside collection services, and the board was authorized by voters to choose a vendor to handle the collection and disposal of the town’s waste.

Select Board members were generally in agreement with the contract extension at the March 11 meeting, though some questioned if the contract would cost the town any additional money.

“This is going to take additional cost,” Kevin Therrien said.

Therrien also said that if residents voted to eliminate curbside collection down the line, the town would still be responsible for the contract with Casella.

“I’d hate for us to be in a position where we’ve agreed to a contract and the service is no longer requested by the town,” Therrien said.

However, recycling fees have always been included in the budget, Town Manager Bryan Laverriere said, meaning the town would have already budgeted for curbside collection, even if residents eventually chose to eliminate it.

“That’s always been in the budget,” Laverriere said. “We added tipping fees for recycling this year.”

The town would also be authorized to terminate the contract with Casella by formal vote at the annual town meeting, Laverriere said.

Currently, the town’s waste and recycling disposal services are partially paid for through Pay-As-You-Throw, in which residents purchase specific town bags for trash.

“The bigger conversation is if we want to eliminate Pay-As-You-Throw,” Laverriere said.

Voters will decide whether or not to eliminate Pay-As-You-Throw in June. If the system is eliminated, taxation will be increased to help pay for the town’s waste and recycling disposal services.