NORRIDGEWOCK — When a crew of inmates from the Somerset County Jail were sent last week to work with the town of Norridgewock, the state Department of Transportation and Waste Management Inc. to clean up a section of U.S. Route 201A, they got more than they had bargained for.
A 1-ton truck was filled with trash in just a three-mile sweep of both sides of the road from the Kennebec River bridge in Norridgewock to Father Rasle Road in Madison, according to Town Manager Michelle Flewelling.
The four-member inmate pickup crew was supposed to go all the way into downtown Madison.
“We didn’t finish the entire project,” Flewelling said. “They only made it three miles — six lane miles on both sides — because there was more trash there that they could pick up.”
Flewelling said the project started last fall when the town “had some bad trash issues on 201A.”
Norridgewock is home to a commercial landfill — Waste Management — and many surrounding communities pass through town to get to the landfill. Flewelling said people were losing bags of trash from the back of pickup trucks and trailers going through town.
Flewelling said Norridgewock town officials met with Waste Management in order to promote behavioral changes in the simple task of going to the dump.
“Folks need to be responsible for their trash and be aware of what is happening to our community,” she said. “We had some trash that came in that was a lot of prescription medication that was left on the side of the road.”
Flewelling said when the snow melted this spring, the roadside ditches were revealed to be “completely littered” with household trash, Styrofoam, plastic, tires and even a long run of gutters from a demolition job.
She contacted Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster and Jail Administrator Maj. Cory Swope and set the gears in motion for the roadside cleanup.
Lancaster said he jumped at the opportunity because he believes a function of the county jail is to give back to the communities of Somerset County. Since he took office in January, Lancaster has placed an emphasis on inmate programs that not only work to instill values and ethics, but also help local communities, he said.
“When we have the workforce available, I want to assist towns with this type of labor,” Lancaster said. “Through a collaborative effort between state, county, municipal and private-sector entities, Somerset County Jail inmates made a contribution” to the community.
It was a true collaboration of the public sector and the private sector, he said.
Inmates who are serving sentences for nonviolent offenses spent the day filling trash bags, which then were collected and disposed of by the town at the Waste Management landfill.
“The amount of trash that was collected clearly demonstrates the importance of citizens observing anti-littering laws and properly securing loads in their vehicles,” Lancaster said.
Mark Hume, from the Department of Transportation garage in Dexter, also was contacted because U.S. Route 201A is a state-maintained road; as was Jeff McGown, from Waste Management.
“The inmates provided the manpower,” Flewelling said. “Waste Management provided water for the inmates to drink and place to take the trash. All of the trash bags, the pickup sticks, the gloves and the bug spray was provided by DOT. The town provided the signage and we did the pickup to haul to the transfer station at Waste Management.”
Flewelling said the collaboration among different levels of government and with the landfill owner could be a good model for other areas of the state.
“It took persistence and time, but the fact that we were all able to come together to do something for the common good is the big piece of what I want to highlight,” she said. “We used the inmates to offset tax dollars to get something done, plus it gave the inmates the ability to have a work piece outside of the facility to contribute back to society. It did work out very well for all of us, and it allowed state, county and municipal government to work together.”
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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