To prepare for a future renovation to the town’s transfer station, the Dublin Select Board approved a motion Monday to contract Monadnock Disposal Services (MDS) for a feasibility study on the transfer station’s office and facilities, with a focus on improving safety, efficiency and traffic flow in and out of the station.

Town Administrator Kate Fuller said that while a request for proposals had gone out for the work, it received no responses. Select Board Chair Chris Raymond said he had reached out to a few waste management businesses to inquire about the work, but that MDS was the only organization that could provide the feasibility study they are looking for.

After the study has been completed, the Select Board hopes to get detailed plans for a new transfer station layout based on the recommendations from MDS. This will likely include the construction of a new office, as the town’s new transfer station superintendent, John McManus, noted that the existing office is in need of repair.

“We’re going to have to replace the front of the building,” McManus said. “It’s all rotted. I don’t even know what’s holding the boards on the building.”

Specifically, McManus said the area around the metal door, and the door itself, is in poor condition, and will have to be replaced.

“The whole bottom part of the door is rotted – it’s metal – you can grab it and just rip the metal right off,” he said.

McManus said he couldn’t be sure about the extent of the damage until he could get a closer look behind the rotted material.

Raymond suggested they remedy the situation to ensure the structure will last through March, when the town will budget for a more-comprehensive repair to the building to be placed on next year’s town warrant.

Select Board member Susan Peters expressed concern about a potential safety hazard, but McManus reassured her that, “I don’t think it’s that bad yet,” but that a large hole in the door could potentially allow animals into the building.

McManus and the Select Board decided that the door would be replaced soon to prevent wildlife from entering the building, and the rest of the work could be budgeted for in the future.

The Select Board also fielded a complaint from a resident about restrictions on the amount of brush that can be delivered to the transfer station per day. After resident Larry Foy had dropped off two loads of brush and was preparing for a third, McManus informed him that only one load of brush could be dropped off at the transfer station per day.

“I don’t see the point of this ordinance,” Foy said, saying that the limit was too restrictive, and it would take significantly more time to remove the brush from his yard. “At this rate, by the time I get done, the leaves will be falling down and it will be winter.”

Foy added that a previous Select Board had given him permission to drop off multiple loads of brush to the transfer station, and he had done so for years without issue.

The Select Board explained that the town had previously struggled enforcing ordinances at the transfer station, and, as the town’s new transfer station director, McManus was required to enforce the rules.

“That has been an issue for us as a select board for quite some time – people have not followed the ordinance,” said Select Board member Carole Monroe. “Part of hiring a new person and having them take over the responsibility of the transfer station – we made sure he understood that he has the full authority to make sure those ordinances are followed.”

Raymond added that the transfer station sign notes the one-load-per-day policy.

Foy urged the board to change the ordinance to allow more than one load of brush per day. Monroe told Foy they would consider the change as they review the town’s ordinances for updating next year.