Month: October 2022

Although the language of Article 7 below sounds deceptively positive, 99.8% of the funds the Town is seeking to raise with it are for a “Water Resource Recovery Facility.” This is the new name for wastewater treatment plants (sewer plants) because the public’s association with them is so negative that the wastewater industry rebranded them. Talk about greenwashing! Do we really need a Rockport Wastewater Treatment plant that releases into Rockport Harbor? That’s what Article 7 would have you believe. Do we even need or want this $16 million dollar wastewater treatment plant? It will cost millions of taxpayer dollars to build and many more to maintain and upgrade long term. The Town also does not disclose in Article 7 or 8 (the new Route 90 TIF) that the planned building site for the plant is Cramer Park. This would be a terrible location for such an industrial use, in the midst of a recreational park on a historic section of Goose River and a stone’s throw from our historic Harbor. Our harbor is beloved not only by residents from all five Rockport neighborhoods but is an important tourism destination for our visitors. In addition to the noxious odors that such plants emit, the deliveries and servicing of the plant would also result in even more commercial trucks going across Goose River bridge and onto Pascal, High and other adjacent residential streets. The ballot question itself states:

WHEREAS, the second amendment (the “Second Amendment’) to the Rockport Downtown Municipal Development Tax Increment Financing District (the “District’) and its development program (the “Development Program”) by extending the term to thirty (30) years as well as adding broadband infrastructure and environmental improvement projects to the project costs that will help provide new employment opportunities within the Town, provide opportunities for economic development in the Town and surrounding region, improve and broaden the tax base in the Town and improve the economy of the Town and the State of Maine;

2022 November Rockport, ME specimen ballot

The language below only addresses the activities which will be associated with building the plant, and while the $16 million dollar cost is substantial, it pales compared to the cost of maintaining it and upgrading it for decades. This plant, if approved, will almost certainly entail a bond to be paid for by all Rockport taxpayers whether their homes are currently on sewer or septic. The supporting documents speak to the plant:

Water Resource Recovery Facility:
All costs associated with environmental improvement
projects related to commercial activity within the
Downtown District/ Town. This includes but is not
limited to the construction, engineering, site work, and
planning for stormwater and wastewater improvements
which are made necessary by violations of the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection’s sanitary
sewer overflow (SSO) regulations by the Town of
Camden, where Rockport’s water resource recovery
process is currently undertaken. The current system
cannot handle the volume of flows that are generated by
both Rockport and Camden. A large portion of the
additional need for treatment results from activity in the
Downtown District.

Second Amendment to Downtown Municipal and Tax Increment Financing District Development Program

Is a Rockport Wastewater Treatment plant necessary because of violations by the Town of Camden facility? A quick search for municipal wastewater treatment violations will show you many examples across the country. What makes Rockport think it won’t have violations? Do you want that in Rockport Harbor? Is it necessary because the volume of flows exceed capacity? That is hard to say, clearly a couple of the cited violations had to do with stormwater overflow which also seems common from other citations across the country. However, if you believe a response from the Rockport Select Board to the Town of Camden we are simply a drop in the bucket.

…a town that sends an average of 70,000 gallons of waste to Camden’s wastewater plant, which is permitted to process 1,000,000 gallons…..

March 23, 2022, response from Rockport Select Board

That March 23, 2022, response goes on to speak of “the 12.7% of capacity Rockport is allocated in their system.” This means we can almost double our current average daily flows before reaching our allocation. So, even if “A large portion of the additional need for treatment results from activity in the
Downtown District” it should not come near to the allocated capacity.

The supporting documents on the town website state “The Town is proposing to construct a Water Resource Recovery Facility…”, meaning a sewer plant. The stated budget for this is $16,014,000 (see page 5). The entire projected funds coming from the yes vote on article 7, however, are just $4,493,446 (see page 96). So, they say on page 3, section II.A “The Town is applying to a variety of sources for funding of this project, including financing through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank’s revolving loan fund and a Congressional earmark application.” That means you, the taxpayer, will pay the lionshare of the $16 million cost plus interest. The Select Board will take your yes vote on Article 7 to mean approval to go finance and fund construction for a sewer plant adjacent to and dumping into Rockport Harbor.

With all this doubt in the initiative, do you really want to authorize the construction of a Rockport Wastewater Treatment plant? Would you if you knew it was going to displace Cramer Park? Discharge directly into Rockport Harbor? Are there too many open questions to deserve your vote? Vote No on Article 7, let’s learn more before we go down this road.

Know before you vote, it seems like a given, but so many of us are busy and simply don’t have the time or patience to read a whole lot of materials. Why not just follow the Select Board lead on local initiatives? The Select Board has proven themselves to be biased on any number of occasions and this year’s ballot is no exception. Let’s look at a few, specific ballot articles in this cycle for your consideration.

Know before you vote, Article 3 is the perfect example. Even if you just read the ballot the language which they ask us to strike may seem familiar. Indeed, Article 3 on the 2020 ballot is when you voted to insert this language to protect the town from ill conceived, not fact-based decisions by the Planning Board and CEO (Code Enforcement Officer). Now, they come back at you asking you to strike the very language you just inserted into the Land Use Ordinance … with good reason. Not surprisingly the Select Board votes 5-0 for you to overturn yourself and the Planning Board votes 7-0 … who needs facts? Vote No.

Know before you vote, Article 4 is a mirror image of Article 4 in 2020. Again, the town has recycled the article number exactly to ask you to reverse yourself on the reasonable language you voted to insert which limits a single hotel property to twenty rooms in the downtown district (District 913, by the harbor). Yes, that was in response to the 36-room hotel being proposed at the time – who builds a four-room hotel to take up the balance? Now, with a 20-room hotel nearing completion what’s the point of asking you to change it back? Again, the Select Board votes 5-0 in support of you reneging on your vote and the Planning Board 7-0. Remember, they thought thirty-six rooms sounded great. Vote No.

Know before you vote, Article 7 asks you to authorize an extension of the Tax Increment Financing Development Program for the Downtown District. The logic here is that the town has been fighting with Camden over the combined sewer treatment facility located in Camden. If you go to the town website and look at the documents for this extension you will find that it is for “…broadband expansion and a significant environmental improvement project/infrastructure project that relates to business activity.” You may recall that the developer of the hotel stated that the current sewer facilities were capable of handling the new strain associated with the then 36 room hotel. That should mean that the current 20-room hotel plus even another 20-room hotel authorized by the current Land Use Ordinance would be fine with the current infrastructure … unless…. Plus, there is no mention of where the new, $16 million sewage plant will go in Rockport, but town officials have said that Cramer Park is the ‘only place it could work.’ Not surprisingly the Select Board votes 5-0 to recommend a yes vote. Vote No.