BIDDEFORD — Held in the conference room of Saco’s new wind-powered Transportation Center, with the smokestack of the Maine Energy Recovery Company’s waste-to-energy incinerator as a backdrop, the first meeting of a group tasked with finding a way to rid Biddeford of the incinerator took place.
The setting was a fitting one for the meeting, said task force co-chair and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner John Richardson, who represented Gov. John Baldacci. It illustrated the contrast between the old and new methods of green energy production, he said.
Introductions and ground rules took up most of the time of the first of six planned weekly meetings. The group may get together more frequently if talks progress.
“It’s time for our city to grow,” said Mayor Joanne Twomey, a co-chairwoman of the group, as to why she is participating in the task force. For Biddeford to grow, she said, the incinerator must be removed from the downtown.
Saco Planning and Development Director Peter Morelli said he’s been involved in dealing with Maine Energy for 22 years, and the incinerator has “inhibited” the development and redevelopment of the twin cities for that period of time.
We “need to do something about this particular obstacle,” he said.
Speaking for Casella Waste Systems, Inc., Senior Vice President James Bohlig said that the company has been open to selling Maine Energy to the city in the past.
Four years ago, he noted, the company agreed to sell the incinerator to Biddeford and Saco for $30 million plus an agreement to keep operating for 10 years and then close. He said the company felt that was the best way to settle the matter. However, he noted the voters of the twin cities didn’t agree to that.
Since then, he said, the company has gone through a strategic shift. For more than a year, the company has been signaling its intention to sell Maine Energy, he said. However, although there have been other offers, the company is still willing to work with the city toward closure “in a manner that furthers their mutual interests,” as agreed to in the 2007 waste handling agreement, he said.
The “hope,” said Richardson, “Is to see something change here.” He said he doesn’t have any preconceived notions of what can be accomplished, but said that the state needs to be a party to what happens.
State Sen. Barry Hobbins (D-Saco) agreed that there needs to be state involvement and possibly involvement from the federal government.
There were a few times discussions became heated, such as when Hobbins strongly objected to the full page ads that Maine Energy has been running in some Maine papers, but Richardson helped to keep the group on task.
Among the ground rules the group established were that no party will report on the discussions to the press without all parties agreeing.
The group agreed to allow the public into some parts of the meeting and discussed the possibility of allowing an opportunity for public comment. However, it was agreed that when negotiations or “substantive” talks take place, the public would be asked to leave.
During one part of the discussion, members of the public were asked to leave. Bohlig said he wanted to tell the other task force members in private the pace that would be necessary for talks to take place. He indicated that there was interest from other entities in negotiating with the company for Maine Energy.
Other members of the task force in attendance were Biddeford City Manager John Bubier, Biddeford Environmental Codes Officer Brian Phinney and; representing Maine Energy, General Manager Ken Robbins and Casella Regional Vice President Brian Oliver.
The next meeting will take place on Monday, May 11 at 4 p.m.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@gwi.net.
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