Nahant compost area to open next month

NAHANT – The town compost area, which is located on Spring Road, opens for the season on April 2 at 10 a.m.Resident Joseph Sherber, who retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 1999 and is a member of the Council on Aging Board of Directors, assumed the title of “Dump Master” in May 2007.The composting area will be open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. through the fall.Department of Public Works Director Robert Ward urged residents to adhere to the town compost area guidelines and not place any prohibited items on the compost pile.”Only leaves, grass clippings and small brush cut to 12-inches or smaller can go on the composite pile,” he said. “Logs, stumps, large brush, lumber, bricks and rocks are all prohibited.”Sherber said landscape contractors who possess a valid composting area permit are allowed to dump clippings, but the refuse must be from work done in Nahant, not other communities.Ward pointed out the town had to place a moratorium on composting stickers for landscapers a few years ago because so much compost was piling up that the town had to pay to have it hauled away.