Dear Rockport Voter, 
 
Since 1990, Rockport property owners who are connected to the sewer system have had their wastewater treated by the plant in Camden. Shortly after the 30-year agreement between Camden and Rockport ended in 2020, Camden raised Rockport user fees to help finance necessary improvements. Communications between the towns deteriorated, a lawsuit was filed, and mediation has stalled.
 
In 2023, the Rockport Select Board appointed a task force, which has recommended a $22-$38 million wastewater treatment plant be located at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center, expanding on existing infrastructure. This proposal has potential to be a technical one-town solution.
 
Camden Select Board members have communicated in at least two recent public meetings (September 5 and December 5, 2023) that they remain interested in a collaborative solution.
 
Before Rockport residents vote on proposal to build a stand-alone wastewater facility, we urge citizens of both towns to consider analyzing another option: forming a new municipal district partnership to enable us to invest together in necessary infrastructure development, utilizing all traditionally available public financing methods.
 
To this end we are currently circulating a petition to Rockport voters to place the following question on the June town ballot:
Do you favor requiring the Rockport Select Board to appoint an advisory committee to study the costs and benefits of a collaborative approach for improving wastewater treatment systems in the towns of Rockport and Camden, including a municipal utility district, and to have such committee report findings to the Board prior to the 2025 Rockport Town Meeting and prior to funding the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant?

Please sign this petition when you see volunteers collecting signatures in front of the Post Office, Transfer Station and other locations in town.
 

Taylor Allen
Tom Amory
Chip Bauer
Sally Cook
Des Fitzgerald
Bill Freeman
Will Gartley
Scott Gazelle
Kate Lee
Bill Leone
Cheryl Liechty
Peter Ralston
Steve Smith
Sam Temple

Rockport Petition Supporting Further Study of Sewer Partnership with Camden

●  Rockport and Camden have collaborated on the treatment of wastewater for over thirty years.

●  The 30 year interlocal agreement governing this collaboration expired in 2020. Shortly thereafter, Camden raised Rockport user fees in order to finance necessary wastewater plant improvements. Tensions around this culminated in a lawsuit that remains in mediation, as well as written communication from Camden indicating an expectation that Rockport stop sending wastewater to Camden’s plant by early 2026.

●  Now, an impressive effort by Rockport’s appointed task force is prepared to recommend construction of a 30+ million-dollar wastewater treatment facility, with a sewer extension along Route 90. This proposal has potential to be a solid technical solution and it may be appealing to a town looking to take control of its wastewater costs.

●  However, Camden Select Board members have communicated in recent public meetings – in September and December, 2023 – that the opportunity remains to engage in collaboration.

●  Our two towns are in many ways one community. From a municipal perspective, our unified school district, four-town solid waste corporation, and integration of Rockport and Camden law enforcement are key examples of this. Whatever the wastewater solution — a treatment facility in each town or evolution of our existing partnership — cooperatively planning this part of our infrastructure is important.

●  Before Rockport residents undertake building a stand-alone wastewater facility, we urge time to compare this with continued partnership options that could allow us to invest together affordably in necessary infrastructure development, utilizing all traditionally available public financing, planning in concert for the future.

To this end, please consider joining us in petitioning the Town of Rockport to include the following question on the June, 2024 ballot:

Do you favor requiring the Rockport Select Board to appoint an advisory committee to study the costs and benefits of a collaborative approach for improving wastewater treatment systems in the towns of Rockport and Camden, including a municipal utility district, and to have such committee report findings to the Board prior to the 2025 Rockport Town Meeting and prior to funding the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant?

Thank you for your consideration.