Since spring of 2023 hundreds of Rockport residents have become increasingly aware of the deficiencies in the Rockport Select Board’s Article 3 proposal to build a $51 million stand-alone wastewater treatment facility. 

The Select Board appointed a working Task Force that researched the siting, operating and financial complexities of a Rockport-only wastewater treatment facility but did not allow the Task Force to even consider the possibility of continuing the 30-year wastewater collaboration with Camden…an option that might well be – by far – the most effective solution for both towns. 

I am seriously disturbed by how inaccurate and/or misleading some of the Rockport Select Board’s most important fiscal projections are. Based on the staggering debt residents would be asked to finance, Article 3 is a terrible option at this time.

But the core problem has been the inability (to date) of leaders on both sides of the Arch to work together to explore a mutually beneficial arrangement... one which would very likely result in a much-improved financial impact on residents in both towns as well as far better operating efficiencies and overall environmental impact.

We are two towns but we are one community. It’s time that our elected officials act accordingly. Both Select Boards need to stop blaming “them,” and start thinking about all of best solutions for “us.” 

It is much too soon to vote to build a $51 million wastewater treatment facility….it is critical to vote NO on #3 and YES on #15 which directs the Rockport Select Board to actively seek to work with their colleagues in Camden. To proceed otherwise currently makes no sense at all; haste makes waste, especially given that the likely best option has not been even preliminarily addressed by either town Select Board.

Peter Ralston lives in Rockport

Peter Ralston