Transfer station owner roils contract talks with attack flyer in Southwest Harbor
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, June 8, 2024 - Have the select board and EMR Inc. reached agreement on a contract extension for waste disposal services?
Select Chair Carolyn Ball says yes.
“The contract issues have been resolved. The discussion will undoubtedly be short with a motion to approve the contract” at the select board meeting Tuesday, she stated in an email.
But you couldn’t tell that from EMR’s messaging this week when the company distributed a flyer Thursday through the local Chamber of Commerce containing aggressive language and urging all businesses to attend the meeting Tuesday to support EMR.
The different optics stirred confusion Friday when EMR owner Lee Worcester gave five signed copies of a draft contract to Town Manager Marilyn Lowell for the select board meeting Tuesday night.
He said he was told this morning by Ball that the board was prepared to sign them Tuesday.
Jim Vallette, the board’s point person in the negotiations, learned of the flyer and was puzzled by its content. Member Natasha Johnson also reacted negatively to the flyer especially as the working group held a productive meeting Thursday during which, Vallette said EMR owner Lee Worcester “admitted” to having created the flyer.
Vallette called it an “interesting negotiating tactic.
“He enlisted the Acadia Chamber too, which I thought was an impartial beneficiary CSO (community service organization) subsidized by the town's taxpayers.
“I don't know how the Chamber makes its decisions on what to lobby for. My company is a small business member of the Chamber and was never consulted. Many businesses in Southwest Harbor supported the MDI Recycling Club efforts before I was elected to the Select Board two years ago. They and the public are very supportive of gaining more town control over who pays for what. Witness the recent Solid Waste Ordinance votes, both passing with more than 80% of the vote in November and May.”
Vallette, who owns a materials consultancy, said he went to see the Chamber manager and asked why the chamber was promoting the flyer.
“The director explained that she was doing so at the request of a board member. I said my company is a member and was not part of any kind of discussion about it, and that I thought the Chamber was an impartial community service. I said at the time, "I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, it's about how the decision was made.’ "
Holly Masterson, vice president of the Chamber, said an “obviously upset” Vallette was rude to the Chamber manager.
“There are ways to deal with that, but coming in and reaming out our manager … all we're doing is passing out information,” Masterson said.
“That flyer was not created by us. That was given to us by a business member in order to get information out to other business members about a topic and a situation at the selectmen that we wanted people to know about.”
Masterson confirmed the flyer was created by EMR. “We have no stance. We have no position. We have no two cents about anything that was on the flyer other than just getting information out to our business members that there's a meeting coming up that they should be part of.” Masterson is a principal of the new mini golf course across Rt. 102 from Smuggler’s Den Campground, owned by Worcester.
Worcester said he posted the flyer simply to let folks know there was a meeting that they may want to attend.
“There was no opinion in it,” he said.
It’s not clear what EMR meant by “taxpayers will be forced” to pay for all waste.
Does that mean without a contract by June 30, EMR intends to collect fees at the gate to the transfer station on Long Pond Road? If so, how will those payments be accounted for once a new contract is signed?
Worcester said he hadn’t worked out the process and that he hopes it won’t be necessary after Tuesday.
Some residents and businesses do not realize that EMR’s services are paid out of property taxes. “They are under the impression that the fee they pay to a hauler like Gott’s is the entire waste disposal cost. Those pickup fees only pay for the waste to be delivered to EMR,” Vallette said.
Vallette said the new contract is trying to tighten the language to guard against scofflaws, one of the biggest being the federal government whose Coast Guard station here is not paying for waste disposed at the EMR facility.
“The Coast Guard station has a very limited budget. The door to their building was literally falling apart when I met with their officer this week. Their budget for station operations is $75,000, and 20% of it for pickup by their vendor.
“We need the station here, they provide vital services, so we need to think about that, too. They are not nearly as well funded as, say, the Park, which does pay for everything. So there's a discussion to be had also with our federal representatives about ensuring the station is better funded, including support for the community that is hosting it.
Vallette said the new contract would ensure the town has the right to define "authorized agents" and "authorized individuals."
“Without acknowledging our right to further define Authorized Agents and Individuals, SWH will continue to pay for the transfer and disposal of wastes for any entity in town, without a limit of volume per entity, for the next five years.”
“The Coast Guard and many residents who have pickup have told me they thought their bills include everything including disposal. They don't. They are ‘authorized individuals,’ even entities like the Coast Guard that pay no taxes for their station or residences.
“Curbside or regular waste dumpster pickup bills are only for bringing the waste up the hill to the transfer station. After that, the town as a whole is paying for the entry of ‘authorized’ waste into the transfer station, related facility costs, transporting the waste from the transfer station for disposal, and the disposal costs.
“And the waste could come from anywhere. The contract does not restrict our payment obligation to waste originating in SWH. This is the current arrangement and our tonnage per capita is one of the highest in the state.
“A simple change to the definitions of authorized agents and individuals will allow SWH to begin discussions with businesses, residents, everyone in the community, towards creating a more equitable, less expensive system, ideally after this tourist season, in compliance with our new Solid Waste Ordinance.
“Our negotiations have worked out key issues,” Vallette stated in an email. “And EMR had previously agreed to allow the town to spend money on its own recycling programs, which was prohibited under the prior contract.
”Combined with the new Ordinance, these are major advances. We now have the tools to work with our residents and businesses on programs that will reduce solid waste and associated costs for our taxpayers,” Vallette said.
Voters in May overwhelmingly approved a sustainability ordinance which seeks to reduce the amount and cost of solid waste, reuse and recycle material that would otherwise be waste and streamlined regulation the disposal of solid waste.
Did Worcester need to borrow a page from Bar Harbor where weaponizing the local Chamber of Commerce is a normalized business practice? Perhaps not. But there will be little room for maneuvering by the select board Tuesday night. Members will have little time to process the drafts Worcester signed. backed up by a potential audience of Chamber businesses Tuesday night, Worcester has aligned his chess pieces to fall in just the right sequence, and timing.
MRC Hampden operator seeks to learn from Toronto Green Bin program
HAMPDEN - Toronto has a “green bin” disposal program for organic waste which is being eyed by the new operator of the municipal waste facility here, Innovative Resource Recovery.
Michael Carroll, director of the 115-town consortium Municipal Review Committee, and IRR executives visited the Toronto plant last week.
“This state-of-the-art Green Bin Processing Facility has design features similar to those Innovative envisions for Hampden's, including additional digester design and capacity expansions,” Carroll stated.
“The tour, led by Toronto city representatives and technical engineers, gave us valuable insights. The facility and the equipment we observed have been in operation for over ten years, maintaining fantastic condition. This facility processes approximately 80,000 tons of organics for Toronto residents, making our visit a truly inspiring experience.”
This week, IRR’s Municipal Waste Solutions will conduct its third trial waste runs “with less than a year of our ownership with Innovative, marking a significant step in our journey toward consistent and reliable waste processing,” Carroll stated.
“These trials will occur over four weeks, with a minimum amount of MRC member waste coming to the facility for processing one day per week. The trial will start with waste from Holden, building from previous two trials for broader member involvement.”
I didn't find anything combative in Lee's flyer. I generally agree with your perspective, but in this case, you may be fanning the fire.