Standish will be trying out a new schedule for its transfer station over the course of the summer.

The trial period, which began June 2 and will last until Oct. 13, has the number of days that the station is open increase from four to six, being closed only on Wednesdays. In addition, the town is increasing annual sticker fees for the first time since 2002, from $25 to $40, as per a vote of the council.

John Cross, Standish’s director of Public Works, explained that the new schedule came about because of Standish’s rising population. In recent years, as the town has experienced rapid development, to the point of briefly considering a moratorium on large-scale subdivisions, sticker usage at the transfer station has increased by 200, despite the total volume of trash not changing. Cross said that lines at the station can reach out the gate on some weekends, and the town was looking for ways to spread out the amount of traffic coming into the station.

Cross said the changes had received a mixed reception from Standish residents, saying that, while some residents thought the change was unnecessary, others were very excited about it. He said since the transfer station is now open six days a week, guests have far more options in terms of days in which they can dispose of their garbage. Despite the extended schedule, Cross said that the transfer station would be operating with the same amount of staff as usual, with no additional cost to the town.

Regarding the increased sticker fee, Cross noted that the fee has been set at $25 since 2002, and that the council has been looking at increasing the fee for a number of years. In addition, the mattress and boxspring fee will increase to $40 per item, while TVs and monitors will increase to $20 per item. Cross explained that this is due to increased disposal fees, with the former items costing the town $60 to get rid of them.

On whether the schedule will become permanent, Cross said that the town will see what reception is like and a decision will be made by the Town Council and go to the town budget. The transfer station did a traffic count over the weekend of May 17-18, and plan to do another count in the late summer to see if the schedule is working as intended. Should the schedule changes become permanent, the station would need to hire additional staff.