Despite what you may be reading on every street corner in town, the decision whether to build a wastewater treatment plant in Rockport is not about mythical cooperation with Camden. It is about the future of Rockport.

Camden made, and has stuck to, their decision to require Rockport to exit their wastewater treatment system and even though their current and future Select Board candidates may wax eloquently about cooperation, not one single concrete step has been made by anyone in Camden to make that happen in the nearly five years since the old agreement expired. Not one. Actions speak louder than words, including the lack of any action on the part of the small, but loud group of Rockport residents who oppose this measure.

Rockport has a decision to make, and it is about the future direction of our town. Nan and I moved to Rockport nearly five years ago, gladly leaving behind the chaos of big city life, and do not regret that decision one single bit. But just like larger towns, we have our own challenges about the future, and we cannot just look the other way and hope, through sloganeering I might add, that the issues will just go away. They won’t.

Camden has an old wastewater treatment system that is going to require tens of millions of dollars of investment. One needs little more evidence than the fact that their rates have increased 73% in the past five years and that they are currently seeking a $12.5 million bond to just begin dealing with their I&I problem. And our old contract with Camden, the one that required Rockport to maintain its own piping system but pay the same rate as Camden’s users, was a bad deal, and it remains a bad deal. Rockport “enjoys” one of the highest wastewater rates in the state; and given what Camden is facing, you can guess where rates are headed in the future. 

We face declining enrollment in our schools, as young families cannot afford to live in Rockport. Who wants to predict when the elementary school closes? Ten years, twenty years?

When do already rising property taxes become so absurd that we become dominated by wealthy, seasonal residents because “normies” cannot afford to live here? Or is that already happening?

Just like other towns, we need more affordable housing, and that requires a public sewer. And I would rather try to make that happen than just sit back and yap about it.

Also, our harbor is already stressed by bacterial contamination from failing septic systems. But because Camden cannot give us the treatment capacity to expand use of the public sewer, are we to just watch this problem worsen and eventually impact our reputation as having one of the most beautiful harbors in the state? Nope!

The folks who oppose building our own wastewater treatment plant (Ballot Measure 3) may pine for the past, but that’s a costly, fool’s errand that ignores the reality that towns like Rockport face in the 21st century. Yes, wastewater plants are boring and expensive. But they are a necessary part of infrastructure that also benefits our entire town.

The existing option in Camden had its 30-year run. Now they’ve repeatedly told us to leave, and I for one am happy to accommodate them. Please vote “YES” on Ballot Measure #3.

Bill Bow, former Chair of Rockport’s Wastewater Task Force, lives in Rockport