LEWISTON — Public Works officials hope a new punch-pass database will help streamline property owner visits to the Lewiston landfill and let the city keep better track of what’s being thrown away.

City councilors are scheduled to vote Tuesday, Sept. 18, on a new electronic pass system for the landfill that dispenses with the paper-punch-pass system. If councilors agree, the new system tracking dump trips using driver’s license numbers would begin operating the next day.

“All of the information is recorded with that driver’s license number,” said Megan Bates, deputy director of Public Works. People will get receipts when they leave the landfill, she said.

“It might be confusing for some folks who think that’s their pass, but it isn’t,” she said. “It’s just there for their records, but the paper pass would go away.”

Councilors approved the new system on first reading at their Sept. 4 meeting.

Property owners can buy one $20 punch pass per property each year. Each pass allows them to dump two car tires, a television set or monitor, a refrigerator, six bulky items such as furniture or rugs, and 6,000 pounds of household trash, construction waste or brush.

“There’s been some research on what the average person throws out each year, and it’s about 20 pounds per week — about 1,040 per year,” Bates said. “So 6,000 pounds is a lot. If you have a job on your house and you need to get rid of some construction materials or you have a big wooded lot that you want to work on, that’s what this is for. It’s a lot of stuff.”

Residents now keep track of what they dump with a paper pass. Dump officials inspect and weigh each load as it’s taken in, checking off boxes with a marker. They’re done when the pass is full. A second pass bought during the year costs $40, and Lewiston property owners can buy two passes each year, per property.

The pass system stays in place, but the paper pass marked with a pen would be replaced with a city database. Property owners give the dump attendant their driver’s license while their load is weighed and inspected and get a printed receipt telling them how much more they can bring in.

“If you have multiple family members in a house, you can tie multiple licenses to a single account,” Bates said. “But it’s all tied to the driver’s license.”

Passes can still be purchased at the Treasurer’s Office in City Hall and will be available at the dump itself, once the new system begins. Residents also can call the landfill scale house at 513-3006 to find out how much more they can take to the dump on their current passes.

“It’s going to take a little time for us to get used to it,” Bates said. “Lines at the dump may be a little longer while we learn the new system. We’ll have one person inspecting loads, checking the passes and registering new passes, so they are doing more jobs.”

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