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Cushing selectmen briefed on regional transfer-station options; Jan. 19 intertown meeting planned
Summary
Selectman Martha Marchut told the board that the Municipal Review Committee is proposing Fiberight for regional waste processing and urged attendance at a Jan. 19 Waldoboro meeting; she said PERC is pursuing towns directly while Fiberight remains under development and financing is unsettled.
Selectman Martha Marchut told the Cushing selectmen on Dec. 28 that the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) is favoring Fiberight for regional processing of municipal solid waste and that transfer-station committees and MRC have prepared documents describing a 2015–2018 timeline and a draft town-warrant to maintain MRC membership.
Marchut said she distributed three documents about the transfer station and encouraged the board to attend an intertown meeting scheduled for Jan. 19 at 6:00 p.m. at the Waldoboro town hall, where Greg Lounder is expected to present the MRC/Fiberight plan. She said the Transfer Station Committee and MRC have concluded that Fiberight’s proposal appears likely to produce lower tipping fees than remaining with PERC, though the final costs remain uncertain.
Selectman Daniel Staples raised a related item he had seen in local news: PERC is planning a meeting in Orland to discuss its plant and outreach to towns. Marchut said PERC (whose parent company the minutes identify as USA Energy) has been approaching towns directly; she noted that PERC may be losing subsidies that have supported its operations and that, if subsidies decline, higher tipping fees would likely follow. Marchut also cautioned that Fiberight’s facility had not yet been built at the time of the meeting and that Fiberight recently acquired a new financial backer, so plans and costs could change between 2015 and 2018.
The selectmen discussed what membership choices would mean for individual towns. Marchut explained that staying with MRC would leave towns aligned with a larger group (she cited about 187 towns as an MRC membership figure, contingent on towns remaining with MRC). If Cushing and neighboring towns chose to pursue PERC independently, they could be operating outside the MRC consortium; Marchut said she did not believe Waldoboro or Friendship were currently likely to join PERC, and that the Waldoboro group had decided to go with MRC.
No formal vote on transfer-station membership was taken at the Dec. 28 meeting. Marchut urged selectmen to review the distributed materials and attend the Jan. 19 presentation for further detail and timeline guidance.
