As we move rapidly toward election day, there are many candidates and issues that will require our attention, from the national level through the state level right down to the local level. Voters have much work to do in order to be prepared on all the decisions that will be before us. I would like to focus some attention on an issue that will come before the voters of Rockport, Camden, Hope and Lincolnville, and that is the consideration of a solid waste disposal contract with ecomaine to begin when the current contract with PERC expires in March of 2018. I advocate for voting to approve this contract.

For those who have followed this issue over the past many months, you are well aware that the process of getting to where we are right now has been difficult and contentious. The MCSWC Board of Directors placed a recommendation of a 20 year contract with ecomaine before the town meetings of the four towns (Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport) in June, but this option was rejected by voters in three of the four towns, partly because there was a significant number of voters who preferred to go with a new technology to be implemented at a new plant to be built in Hampden (the Fiberight option). After the rejection at town meetings, the MCSWC board reconsidered, but again did not recommend contracting with Fiberight, and since there was a deadline associated with that option, it is now not available to the towns on the same terms.

There has been a great deal of frustration with the MCSWC board as to how the process has evolved to this point, but we must remember that our fellow citizens who serve on this board have acted in what they believe to be the best interests of our towns, both from a fiscal point of view and from an environmental point of view. We may disagree with their decisions, but we cannot question the motives of those who have been willing to serve, and who had a very difficult decision to make.

At this point, as voters, we must look forward and make the best decision we can given our current situation. The proposal of a three-year contract (with options for two additional years) with a tipping fee of $57.85 per ton provides us with the lowest cost possible for our solid waste disposal during this time frame. This contract is environmentally friendly as much of our solid waste will be converted to energy, and only a small residual will be land-filled. The towns will receive a significant payout when the contract with PERC ends and this could be used to make improvements at our transfer station without requiring a tax increase. We will be able to take advantage of a robust education program provided by ecomaine to help us increase our recycling rates, which will reduce the amount of solid waste (the stuff we put in the yellow bags) that we ship out, and also reduce the cost. And, at the end of the contract, the MCSWC board will be able to re-examine the Fiberight option, which by then may be up and running, and evaluate it for its fiscal and environmental value at that time.

In short, approving this contract at the polls on November 8 is, I believe, the best option available to the four towns at this time. I will be voting for this contract, and I hope that my fellow citizens will as well.

Ken McKinley lives in Rockport is on the Select Board there