While I appreciate the cheeky humor of the anti-question 3 signs, I don’t appreciate the spread of misinformation. The ballot question asks for approval for bonds of $33 million. I assume the exaggerated figure of $52 million includes interest over the 30-year term of the bonds. However, when taking out a car loan or a mortgage, the amount borrowed (not the amount ultimately paid back) is the correct way of expressing the loan amount. We can disagree about whether to move forward with the proposal, but let’s discuss the matter fairly and stick to the facts.

I have never regretted our community’s investments in infrastructure.

In the past 25 years, Rockport and Camden residents have helped fund public projects including a new high school, a new middle school, a bike path, and a new Rockport library. Many of us also recall the building of the new YMCA on Union Street. All of these projects were controversial and expensive. Yet all have enriched life for those of us who live here, and have attracted new residents to the area (as well as increasing property values).

While not as much fun, a new wastewater treatment facility and extended sewer line are important infrastructure upgrades that will protect our harbors, spur development, and ultimately broaden the tax base.

This proposal will cost most Rockport residents absolutely nothing. While all Rockport residents can vote on Question 3, only those who are sewer users or live along the route of the proposed sewer line extension will pay fees. As a sewer user, I have already seen my sewer bill quadruple in recent years, as Camden has unfairly (in my view) billed Rockport users for upgrades to Camden’s collection system. I would prefer to pay increased fees for a new, state-of-the-art treatment facility than continue to pay whatever increased fees Camden chooses to impose.

Question 3 allows Rockport to move forward while still seeking alternative solutions with Camden. Discussions over the past several years have yielded no mutually agreeable solution, and there may not be one. If that’s the case, kicking the can down the road by voting against question #3 will only cost Rockport sewer users more in the long run. 

I urge you to vote “yes” on question 3—we have no time to waste!

  Betsy Elwin lives in Rockport