LINCOLNVILLE — By unanimous vote Monday night, the Lincolnville Board of Selectmen removed Cindy Gerry as the town's representative on the Mid-Coast Solid Waste Corp. Board of Directors, stating that her continued service "is not in the best interest of the town of Lincolnville."

Gerry was removed because she failed to follow the votes of both the Board of Selectmen and the voters at town meeting in June on the issue of disposal of municipal solid waste, according to a statement read by Ladleah Dunn, chairwoman of the Lincolnville Board of Selectmen. Dunn also said that Gerry demonstrated an "inability to work with town officials" in her capacity as the town's representative MCSWC's board.

Gerry went astray from the town when she voted in favor of Fiberight at the MCSWC Board of Directors meeting on June 27. A month in earlier, Lincolnville selectmen gave a favorable recommendation on June Town Warrant Article 19, which called for entering into a 20-year contract with ecomaine. Following around 60 minutes of discussion, voters at June Town Meeting also overwhelmingly approved going with ecomaine.

Gerry told the Lincolnville selectmen Monday night that while she originally believed she would be able to uphold the wishes of the Board of Selectmen and the majority of voters at town meeting in their support of ecomaine, she felt the need to speak up for the minority of Lincolnville residents who she felt wanted to pursue something with Fiberight.

"They were a minority, I understand that, but they are also people and they deserve a voice in their representatives. So that is basically why I voted that way," said Gerry. "I also felt Fiberight to be, or do feel Fiberight to be, the best choice for the town, for whatever reasons. I just couldn't bring myself to not [support it] and when I voted at that meeting, it was to allow the towns the opportunity to vote for Fiberight, because the other towns had not voted in support of ecomaine."

Gerry also said, "I have been told about how I disappointed people, by members of the board of selectmen, however citizens of Lincolnville, and we probably all do tend to hang out with people we are in agreement with ethically and ideologically - everybody I have spoken to was very glad that I voted that way, so I felt that I was representing people - maybe a minority - and maybe I did not vote the way you wanted me to, but I just couldn't bring myself to act like I thought ecomaine was the better choice."

Ecomaine is a Portland nonprofit owned by 20 municipalities.

The towns of Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport have been operating MCSWC as a corporation for decades in getting rid of their trash.

At their respective town meetings this summer, Camden, Hope and Rockport all voted against sending trash to ecomaine, when the current contract with Penobscot Energy Recovery Corporation (for all four towns) ends in 2018. But Camden, Hope and Rockport did not have an alternative to ecomaine, in part because Fiberight was an alternative waste disposal technology at a yet-to-be-constructed plant, in Hampden, and the towns had not yet decided what to do next.

So the MCSWC Board of Directors ultimately went back to ecomaine and renegotiated a new contract, taking the terms from 20 years to five, and reducing the tipping fees.

All four towns are again to vote on the new contract Nov. 8.

The town announced Monday night that there is now a vacancy on the MCSWC Board of Directors for a representative from Lincolnville, which the Board of Selectmen would fill at a later date.

The letter to Gerry was to be drafted, signed by Dunn Tuesday and mailed this week.

Related stories:

• Lincolnville charts its own course to send trash to Portland's ecomaine

• Town Meeting 2016: Rockport rejects fiber network study and waste disposal proposal

• Camden voters approve $7.4 million budget, including church steeple repair funds

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655.