TURNER — Selectmen on Tuesday night decided to end the practice of making free sand available to residents.

The decision came after hearing from three Transfer Station workers who said they have been verbally abused and threatened when trying to limit the amount of sand residents take. Selectmen were also told people were selling the town sand.

In the past, residents have been permitted to take two buckets of sand per storm, a courtesy that has been abused by some residents, workers told selectmen Tuesday.

When the workers have tried to prevent residents from taking more than their allotted share, sometimes they have been cursed or subjected to other verbal abuse, selectmen were told.

“This has to stop,” Selectman Ralph Caldwell said. “We can’t have our employees abused.”

The Transfer Station employees present Tuesday night were Don Fish and Phil Mason, along with on-call worker David Keene.

Keene also told selectmen that following storms, it’s not possible for only two workers to guard the sand pile and also handle snow removal at the station.

Last year, residents went through 34 loads of sand at the Transfer Station, Fish said. Though the sand is meant solely for personal use, it is being sold around town, according to reports by the crew.

The board voted to no longer supply sand, with members saying they were sorry that their decision would place a hardship on honest citizens.

Caldwell said selectmen would check to make sure there was sand available locally for purchase. They mentioned that sand and salt mix can be purchased at hardware stores.

The board considered adding a third person to the Transfer Station crew on snow days, but decided to discuss the situation first with Public Works Director John Moultrie. It was suggested that on the day after a storm, the crew could come in earlier to clean up the snow before opening the station. The station is open Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

After an executive session to deal with property foreclosures, the board voted to allow several people to get their properties back if they pay their taxes in full by March 30.

Rescue Chief Toby Martin told selectmen that January was a record month for calls. He said the rescue had 88 runs: 33 in Leeds, 43 in Turner and the rest mutual aid calls to five other towns in Androscoggin and Oxford counties.

Martin asked permission to purchase furniture for the renovated station. The board approved the expenditure of up to $2,600 for furniture, as well as a washer and dryer.

Town Manager Kurt Schaub said there would be some money left in the rescue reserve fund after the renovations.

The board voted to withhold 10 percent from the contractor’s bill for the recent renovations to the rescue building for a few items that still needed to be addressed. They agreed to pay $52,663 to the contractor.

The audit bill from Smith and Associates was discussed at length and the board agreed to pay $7,550. They had budgeted $7,000.

The board reviewed a letter from Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, in which she declined to issue an opinion on the recently adopted Androscoggin County charter and the question of which group — the commissioners or the county Budget Committee — has final authority over commissioners’ salaries.

Selectman Angelo Terreri said the town has no money for legal fees if they chose to join with other county towns and pursue clarification of the issue. During the recent county budget preparation, the Budget Committee set the county commissioners’ salaries and benefits at a lower level, but the commissioners chose to enact less severe cuts, prompting responses from almost all county towns.