Commissioners approve agreement for UT waste disposal in Greenville

   By Stuart Hedstrom

Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Following discussions at several meetings, during an Aug. 4 session the Piscataquis County Commissioners and Greenville officials reached an immediate agreement for residents of the unorganized territories (UTs) of Big Moose Township, Harford’s Point and Moosehead Jct. to use the Greenville solid waste transfer station. Residents of these UTs on the western side of Moosehead Lake — those who do not pay to have their trash and recyclables hauled away — had been traveling through Greenville to the county facility in Lily Bay on the opposite side of the lake.

“This is roughly a $37,000 additional cost to the UTs,” Commissioners Chair Fred Trask said.

“It’s a convenience issue for people who have to drive by the entrance to Greenville’s transfer station,” Interim County Manager Tom Lizotte said. During a previous meeting Lizotte said the offer from Greenville was attractive to the county because $82,000 is being being budgeted for solid waste in the UTs but that much is not being spent.

“Clearly we are budgeting more for solid waste than we are spending,” he said.

“This would allow them to dump the bulk of their household trash,” Greenville Town Manager John Simko said. “My impression is most people don’t realize the difference because they pay Sean (Bolen of Moosehead Rubbish) to pick up their trash.”

“The transfer station in Greenville is designed to have all these parties,” Simko said, with the town having had similar discussions with Beaver Cove and Shirley officials. “Greenville’s proposal is not just a cost share to help us, it’s a win-win proposal because we have the capacity so you save some and we save some.”

“This really is how much does the county want to collaborate with Greenville as the primary service center for the Moosehead region,” Lizotte said.

Trask wondered about looking into closing the Lily Bay facility and having the nearby UTs use Greenville for waste disposal. Lizotte and Simko both said that scenario could work, but an unknown factor at the present time is the Plum Creek development plan which may involve using Lily Bay for disposal.

The agreement OKed on Aug. 4 for the western Moosehead Lake UTs is for two years, and the commissioners are scheduled to sign the contract at their Aug, 18 meeting.

In other business, the commissioners met with State Rep. Norm Higgins (R-Dover-Foxcroft) to discuss increasing high speed Internet in the county with Higgins being given the go-ahead to pursue possible avenues for bringing this capability to non-serviced portions of the region.

“I have been very involved in high speed broadband since I have been in the legislature, it’s not what I ran on but it’s something I ran into when I got there,” Higgins said. He said increasing Internet speed is one way to potentially improve the economic climate of the region, such as possibly allowing more residents and future residents to telecommute.

“One of the bills in the 65 now at the Supreme Court is a municipal broadband bill,” Higgins said. He said this piece of legislation could allow communities to work through ConnectMe rather than just having the counties be the government to collaborate with the agency.

Higgins said earlier in the year he met with a group of Medford residents interested in bringing high speed Internet to their community, saying most people do not have the capability to erect a 40-foot tower for Wi-Fi and with fiber costing about $25,000 per mile the providers are unlikely to install such cables for a small number of users.

“We thought the county might be willing to serve as an applicant and fiscal agent,” Higgins said about conversations he and Lizotte have had. When asked by Trask, Higgins said the county would not have to raise funds to do this, just have Lizotte spend some of his time on the process.

“The county’s responsibility would a convener and organizer of this,” Lizotte said.

“We need to find a cost-effective way to increase speeds in rural areas,” Higgins said. “I want to be clear, we may find out there is no viable option and if that’s the case we need to stop and wait for another day.”

The commissioners also met with Penobscot County Commissioner Peter Baldacci  to discuss joining the National Association of Counties (NACo), with the Piscataquis commissioners opting to join the organization for a one-year term.

Baldacci, who is Maine’s representative to NACo, said the entity “is the voice of counties to the federal government, to Congress and to the administration.” He said Aroostook and Franklin counties recently joined, leaving Piscataquis as the only one of the state’s 16 counties not to belong to NACo.

“They are going to give it a high priority if you are a 100 percent state,” Baldacci said about how having Piscataquis County as a member would benefit the state. “There are groups in this organization that reflect rural areas and urban areas. We feel it would be very helpful if we were all together on the national organization.”

NACo dues are based on county population, and for Piscataquis County this fee would be on the lower end at $450. “What I can do is place $450 in the draft budget I am putting together later this month,” Lizotte said shortly before the commissioners approved joining NACo for the standard year commitment.

In his report, Lizotte said the next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 18 would be taking place at 8:30 a.m. at the Brownville town office. The session will include a public hearing on the acceptance of a $50,000 CDBG grant to assist in the purchase of maple syrup production equipment for Maine Highlands Sugar Works based in nearby Williamsburg Township.

“I have given the secretary of state’s office my position on what the language should be,” Lizotte said about a referendum question concerning a financing package for a new facility for the sheriff’s department. The wording lists the project cost at $610,000 with a 3 percent financing rate.

Prior to the referendum on Tuesday, Nov. 3 public hearings will take place in the districts of each of the three commissioners. Lizotte said he will be working with the sheriff’s department on an information campaign.