County officials still weighing solid waste options
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County and over 180 other members of the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) have already made or will be selecting a plan soon on solid waste disposal for beyond 2018 when the MRC contract with the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC) expires. MRC member options include continuing with PERC, or joining the new MRC venture for solid waste to go to a future facility in Hampden operated by the Maryland-based Fiberight.
“(The MRC) originally had set a deadline of May 1 to join the group and receive the incentives,” Interim County Manager Tom Lizotte said during an April 19 meeting of the county commissioners. “They have moved the deadline to June 30 to accommodate the decisions.”
“The need to make a decision by May 1 is gone, that does not make the decision any easier but they have removed the timeline,” Lizotte said, saying about 60 MRC members have so far opted to remain with the organization. He said with its 253 annual tons of solid waste, Piscataquis County “is a tiny component of this whole venture.”
“I think we are a long way from making a good decision at this point,” Commissioner James White said. “I think we need to meet with the PERC people and see what our options are.” He said PERC’s capabilities are proven and the Piscataquis County Commissioners have decided to stay with the Orrington company.
“We need to have them come talk to us before we make a decision,” White said. He said the PERC proposal may cost more at the start but a rate increase through Fiberight could take place to help make the plan work.
Commissioners Chair Fred Trask said he agreed with Lizotte in the fact Piscataquis County is a small MRC member. “For me, it comes down to what is going to be the best for the county from a financial point of view?,” Trask said.
“We don’t have to do this now but at the same time we can’t postpone this forever,” Lizotte said. “I think this might not be the only deadline you see,” he said, as the MRC may move the date back again to get as many members to continue on as possible.
White said a number of factors will have to fall in place for the Fiberight plan to work, and he suggested PERC officials be invited to speak at the May 3 or 17 meeting.
In other business, officials with the sheriff’s department had previously toured the Dover-Foxcroft Police Station on East Main Street in order to learn more about a potential purchase of the building to house patrol operations. Those taking a look at the station felt it would not meet the long-term needs of the sheriff’s department but the commissioners were still awaiting a building inspection report.
Lizotte and the commissioners have since looked at the building report. “It still needs a significant amount of work and the more important thing is they don’t want to move there,” he said, saying he has told Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Jack Clukey about the county’s thoughts on not pursuing a purchase of the 1890s-era structure.
“I just want you to put the period on the end of the sentence,” Lizotte said.
During the previous meeting of the commissioners, residents and officials from Parkman spoke at a public hearing on the condition of a mile stretch of the Crow Hill Road. Seventeen residents of the dirt travelway signed a petition to the county asking for something to be done to the road, which has seen heavy equipment traffic from vehicles that are part of a wind power project being constructed in nearby Somerset County.
The post-hearing findings prepared by Lizotte include encouraging the town to consider using the $20,000 received annually over the next two decades from the wind power company for the community’s roads, developing a long-term plan for road management to bring to the commissioners within 90 days and to present the plan at a future annual town meeting.