As it does every year around Thanksgiving, the Transfer Station took an especially long break — and homeowners’ trash piled up deep.

And as happens every year, complaints came pouring in from annoyed residents.

Enough is enough, the Board of Health decided last week.

After some discussion, the board voted unanimously that in all Thanksgiving weeks to come, the station will be open a full day on the day after Thanksgiving. The change still needs Board of Selectmen approval.

In return for working that day, Transfer Station staff will get a floating holiday to use at some other time of the year. For the station to open, it is required that at least two workers be present.

Thanksgiving day is a “big trash generator,” one board member said, and it would be especially helpful for people to be able to drop off their garbage without letting it ripen too long.

Director of Public Health Matthew Armendo, the man who fielded most of those complaints, proposed the switch.

As always, he said, the station wasn’t open much that entire week.

It was only open a half day on Monday, he said, was closed Tuesday and Wednesday (the normal Transfer Station closure days), was closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and was closed Friday because other town employees get the day after Thanksgiving off. So the gate was locked four and a half days straight.

“That gives them (the employees) a big stretch of time off but gave limited access for the townspeople to use the transfer station,” Mr. Armendo said. “We got a lot of complaints from the public expressing their dissatisfaction. Every year this happens — complaints come in every year.”

BOH members also questioned whether something could be done about extended closures around Christmas and perhaps New Year’s. He can look into that, Mr. Armendo said, but the challenge with those two is that the holiday falls on a different day from one year to the next.