Wiscasset’s fine against Giles Rubbish of Boothbay will stand, following selectmen’s split vote on Oct. 7. Dan Giles said his business’ $100 fine hurt his pride more than his wallet, because it’s about something he makes every effort to do: recycle.

“Even though I’m a lowly garbage man, I take a lot of pride in what we do ... That’s why I’m here,” Giles said. He asked the board if he could get the fine removed and, if not, should he be expecting the fines to keep coming.

There wasn’t enough recycling in a late September load of trash that came to the Wiscasset Transfer Station, the station’s superintendent Ron Lear told selectmen. So the station enforced the town’s recycling rules and fined Giles Rubbish.

Giles said his business has been bringing in loads of recyclables along with trash loads that have recyclables separated out; he tells customers they have to recycle, but some tell him they’ll take their recycling to the station themselves.

If Giles provided names of people who don’t put their recyclables out for pickup, the station could determine if those are people who do or do not come to the station, Lear said.

But Selectmen’s Chairman Pam Dunning said if she was a Giles customer, she wouldn’t want the private business making a list of customer names public.

During the discussion, Giles and others referred to the presence of maggots on decaying seafood and other waste, as a reason it would not be safe to pick through for recyclables.

Dunning asked for people to stop saying “maggots,” because it was bugging her, she said.

As for the fine, Dunning argued that Giles’ presentation showed he was recycling.

“To me, that means there should be no fine.”

Selectman Jeff Slack favored keeping the fine because the load went against the town’s rules.

“I think it was one bad day ... I think you’re doing a great job,” Slack told Giles. “I don’t see it happening again.”

Asked in a brief interview afterward if he was satisfied with the discussion’s outcome, Giles shrugged and said, “As long as I don’t keep racking up fines.” He said he appreciated hearing that people think he’s doing a good job.

Giles told selectmen if he does keeping receiving the fines, he will need to either raise his fees or end his Wiscasset trash runs. That could mean more traffic at the station with individual loads, as well as the loss of the recyclables-only loads his business has brought to the station.

“It’s a lose-lose situation for me and I believe it could be a lose-lose situation for the transfer station,” Giles said about the prospect of pulling out of Wiscasset.

Board Vice Chairman Ben Rines found nothing in the recycling rules that lets selectmen lift a fine. He and Slack voted against removing Giles’ fine; Dunning and Barnes voted to lift it, but the tie kept the fine in place. Giles said he would pay it.