I plan to vote against Rockport’s Warrant Article 3 for two primary reasons.

First, the Town of Rockport commissioned an independent group of town citizens to look at what it would cost Rockport to separate from Camden and go it alone with our own waste water facility. The committee identified a place to build the waste water facility and came up with an assumed  price tag.

Whether you believe in the credibility of the final projected numbers, the all in cost is somewhere north of $50 million. So we have a base line number for one of the two options, going it alone with our own waste water facility. We have done half of the work to make a sound decision here.

What we do not yet know is the cost to work with Camden, our current partner in this endeavor. Some Rockport officials want the citizens to vote for the one alternative without knowing the cost and time line of the Camden/Rockport concept. This makes no sense.

My second primary reason for a no vote on 3 and a yes vote on article 15 is that to vote a yes for both is crooked thinking.

If there is a yes vote for Rockport to go it alone as well as a yes vote on article 15 directing the town to negotiate with Camden, we all understand that, as soon as dollars and time are spent on the stand alone option, the chances that the Town of Rockport will at the same time negotiate in good faith with Camden to work together quickly becomes a pipe dream.

Now that some Camden town officials are making it known that they are open to negotiating with Rockport to get over our differences, we owe it to both due process and Rockport town tax payers to make this happen.  

Please join me in voting against Article 3 and a yes on Article 15.

Des FitzGerald  lives in Rockport

Des FitzGerald