Council presses state operator for stronger terms as Juniper Ridge expansion proceeds

Old Town — Councilors, municipal staff and residents used the Dec. 15 committee meeting to press for stronger compensation and transparency from the state-operated Juniper Ridge landfill and its operator, Cassella, as the town prepares to reopen the host-community benefits agreement.

Councilor Vgilia told the committee the town is ‘‘not being fairly compensated for all of the impacts’’ from the landfill and urged negotiators to seek shares of new revenue streams, including methane energy income and tipping-fee adjustments. Staff summarized recent legislation that preserves a path to reopen the agreement and said the state has agreed to ‘‘take all reasonable steps’’ to negotiate, but the statutory text does not set a firm timeline for talks.

Residents and advocates urged the council to act quickly. Chuck Lighheiser, an attendee, told the committee that the city currently receives no tipping fee for the fine ‘daily cover’ material used at the landfill and urged that omission be corrected in negotiations. Ed Spencer, a longtime landfill critic, urged the council to request a public hearing on the expansion application and to host that hearing locally so residents can testify in person.

Staff said the city will compile a list of direct and indirect municipal costs to present during negotiations, including the $460,000 annual cost for curbside collection and recycling that councilors said should be part of any benefit package. Officials confirmed the city’s existing impact fee stream—historically $50,000 and currently about $60,000 per year—has not kept pace with the landfill’s growth and is held in a reserve used for legal and engineering expenses related to expansions.

Councilors suggested several negotiable items: an updated tipping-fee schedule tied to volume or waste type, a share of methane/energy revenues, discrete fees for heavy-truck impacts on town streets, and an explicit end date or sunset for major expansions. Staff noted practical limits—much truck traffic uses state roads and tracking fees would be administratively complex—but agreed to investigate options and to publicize upcoming regulatory deadlines. The Department accepted the expansion application as complete and, as discussed at the meeting, a request for a public hearing must be filed in the regulatory window (participants cited a Dec. 29 procedural timing in the discussion).

The committee tasked staff to gather a complete list of questions and cost items, work with the town’s engineering advisors, and return to council with a negotiation strategy and proposed public outreach to maximize resident participation at any hearing. The city did not take a binding vote on changes during the meeting; next steps center on information-gathering and timing with the state’s regulatory process.