Two southern Aroostook communities will keep their trash disposal arrangement with a nearby town after County leaders reversed a decision to terminate the agreement.
Aroostook County Commissioners voted Wednesday to restore the contract Benedicta and Silver Ridge townships have with Sherman, which provides them a site to dispose of solid waste.
The move restores a yearslong interlocal agreement and comes after the communities garnered more than 150 signatures on a petition to have their say in the decision. Residents cited concerns about costs, additional travel and difficulties for residents with limited transportation, according to County Administrator Justin Tibbetts.
“Many residents of these communities are elderly, and some members of the communities are Amish,” Tibbetts said in a memo to commissioners. “Residents expressed that requiring these individuals and families to travel farther and incur additional costs to dispose of household waste would create an undue burden.”
Benedicta, with a population of 227, and Silver Ridge, a community of 110, fall under the Aroostook County government umbrella as unincorporated townships.
Commissioners in August voted to terminate the agreement with Sherman, which would charge $71,000 for a year of service starting in November, and accept a lower-cost option with Northern Katahdin Valley Waste of Dyer Brook. The change was expected to save $60,000, according to commission minutes.
But residents pushed back and wanted to be involved in the discussion, Tibbetts’ memo stated. So he and Commissioner William Dobbins went to a Sherman Town meeting in September, at which Benedicta and Silver Ridge residents discussed the hardships of moving disposal services to Dyer Brook.
County leaders and Sherman officials renegotiated and Sherman shaved $10,000 from the cost. Tibbetts presented the revised contract Wednesday.
Commissioners Paul Underwood and Daniel Deveau noted concerns with the contract. Deveau urged officials to keep working to find less costly arrangements with other communities in the future.
“We cannot continue [with] what Sherman is doing, at these rates,” Deveau said. “To hold us hostage is not acceptable.”
Commissioners nonetheless voted to ratify the contract at a combined cost of $61,706, or $41,561 for Benedicta and $20,145 for Silver Ridge. The service will go from Nov. 17 this year to Dec. 31, 2027.
The new arrangement balances cost concerns and residents’ needs, according to Tibbetts’ memo.
“The revised agreement provides an opportunity to maintain an important and accessible service for the Benedicta and Silver Ridge communities while addressing the Commissioners’ original concern that the proposed 25% increase was not financially responsible,” he said.
Other business included appointing William O’Connell and Jacquelyn Clossey to two vacancies on the Aroostook Opioid Task Force and establishing electricity for Sinclair’s new fire station so construction can continue.