Dighton selectmen weigh $30 trash bag rolls and higher health permit and burial fees Wednesday

DIGHTON A large roll of Dighton's town trash bags would cost $30 instead of $28, and a small roll $15 instead of $14, under a Board of Health recommendation that goes before the Board of Selectmen at a public hearing on town fees Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6:05 p.m.

The same hearing takes up a $25 increase on most Board of Health permits, from food trucks and private wells to septic repairs, higher burial fees from the Cemetery Committee and higher inspection fees the Sewer Commissioners have already voted. The selectmen meet at 6 p.m. at Old Town Hall, 1111 Somerset Ave., and on Zoom.

What trash bags would cost

In an Oct. 20 letter to the selectmen, the Board of Health said it had discussed the growing cost of disposal at its meeting that day. "While efforts are being made to reduce waste, we are still annually falling into a deficit," the letter says. The board voted to recommend $2 more for a large roll and $1 more for a small roll, and wrote that the new prices "will not completely eliminate the deficit" but "will bring us closer to financial equilibrium."

The bags are sold at the Board of Health office in the lower level of Old Town Hall, through the back door, at the Hannaford supermarket at 255 Warner Blvd. in Taunton and at seven Dighton stores: Johnny's Market, Mendoza's Liquors, Rochelle's, Route 44 Liquors, Under the Sun, Value Gas and Winthrop Street Gulf. The board's price sheet tells residents to pay no more than the listed price and to let the Health Department know if a store charges more.

Health permits up $25

The Board of Health compared its fees with those of surrounding towns with similar demographics and settled on $25 per application as "a fair increase," its letter says, adding that the change would bring in an extra $1,225 a year. The letter, signed by Acting Chairman Tammy Mello and member Vincent Hebert, says the board voted unanimously to recommend the increases.

For homeowners, a percolation test on a new house lot would go from $400 to $425, a septic system permit for a new home from $400 to $425 and for a repair from $300 to $325, and a Title V review from $100 to $125. Permits to replace a distribution box, septic tank or pump chamber, or to abandon a cesspool, would cost $150 instead of $125. A drinking water well permit would go from $150 to $175. Three new fees of $100 each would cover a local upgrade variance request, the design review of an innovative or alternative septic system and resubmitting a Title V report. The application fee for the Community Septic Loan Program would rise from $50 to $75.

Retail food stores, restaurants and food trucks would pay $150 for their permits instead of $125, temporary food permits and residential kitchens $100 instead of $75, and a food reinspection would cost $75 instead of $50. Septic pumpers would pay $150 a truck instead of $125, and tobacco sellers, tanning salons and semi-public pools $150 each instead of $125. The $500 marijuana application and the $25 farmers market permit would not change. Under the schedule, fees double for anyone operating without the required permit or license, on top of state fines.

Burials and sewer inspections

The Cemetery Committee is asking for a single grave interment to go from $1,000 to $1,200 and a cremation interment from $350 to $425, starting Jan. 1, 2027. In the town's Veterans Cemetery, veterans would still be buried at no charge, while a spouse in a single grave would pay $1,200 instead of $1,000, a spouse in a shared grave $600 instead of $500 and a dependent child's cremation interment $425 instead of $350. Committee Chair Britt Grealish-Rust wrote that the new fees "better reflect the current costs" of labor, equipment, maintenance and administration.

The Sewer Commissioners voted Sept. 14 to raise the residential inspection fee from $125 to $200 and the commercial and industrial inspection fee from $200 to $400, and to raise a drain layer's annual permit from $150 to $200 while dropping the renewal fee. The selectmen are only asked to acknowledge the new sewer fees.

Also on the agenda

At 6:10 p.m., Highway Superintendent Tom Ferry brings the town's snow plow rates for the coming winter. The revised contract pays private plow operators from $105 an hour for a pickup truck with a plow to $150 an hour for a loader, with a four-hour minimum, plus a $5 an hour bonus for contractors whose paperwork is in before noon Thursday, Nov. 19.

Town Administrator Ralph Vitacco's report covers the Nov. 9 Special Town Meeting and the Dighton Elementary School ballot question. SC360 reported earlier on the warrant: Dighton's final Nov. 9 town meeting warrant drops a $66,703 police vehicle and two other articles.

How to weigh in

Residents can attend at Old Town Hall or join on Zoom with meeting ID 884 6719 1341 and passcode 585912, or by phone at 646-931-3860. Comments can be emailed before the meeting to boardofselectmen@dighton-ma.gov. The meeting airs on Dighton Channel 95 and on the town's YouTube channel. Questions about trash bags go to the Board of Health at 774-872-0943.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.