Members of the Francestown, Antrim and Bennington select boards decided to move ahead with exploring the reclamation process for the Tri-Town Pit, a sand pit adjacent to the Bennington transfer station, at a special three-town meeting Monday night.

The three towns have jointly managed the pit since 1993.

“There is a lot more sand in the pit then was previously estimated,” said Bennington Select Board Chair Jim Cleary. “We have gone down a lot further than we thought we would. There is probably enough material in there to go another five years – possibly more.We need to figure out how much is remaining in the pit, get it resurveyed, and we need to start figuring out what the reclamation costs will be.”

Francestown Road Agent Gary Paige said he believed there was more than a million cubic yards of sand in the pit.

“We have hit silt in one area, and we could use that for reclamation,” Paige said.

Cleary, who was on the Bennington Select Board when the original agreement between the towns was amended in 1999, proposed a site visit to the pit.

The visit has been scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 27.

Antrim Select Board Member Donna Hansen suggested the three towns convene a committee to start researching the process for environmental reclamation of the sand pit once the resources are exhausted. Cleary, John Robertson of the Antrim Select Board, Francestown Select Board member Scott Heath and Bennington Select Board member Tony Parisi volunteered to serve on the committee.

“It’s been 30 years. It’s definitely time,” Cleary said.

The 1999 agreement between the three towns, which amended a previous agreement made in 1993, specifies: “Each town is entitled to its share of the mineral deposits, timber and revenues generated from the site and is responsible for its share of the expenses associated with the site, except as modified by the express terms of the this agreement.” The agreement specifies that Antrim and Bennington each have a 40% share in the pit and Francestown has a 20% share, and that each town is responsible for their share in the cost of land reclamation.

The towns had last planned to meet to discuss the status of the pit in spring 2020, but the process was put aside due to the COVID pandemic.