Bucksport OKs sewer agreement> Orland tie-in crux of accord

BUCKSPORT — The Town Council voted 6-1 Thursday night to approve a joint sewer agreement with the town of Orland, with conditions.

The revised agreement was worked out during a recent meeting of the Sewer Committee, Town Manager Roger Raymond said at the council meeting. Raymond said Orland’s legal counsel had suggested some revisions that still need review by Bucksport’s town attorney.

Approval of the agreement is expected to facilitate Orland’s plans for a $2.6 million municipal sewer project connected to Bucksport’s waste-water treatment plant. Orland is expected to pay $150,000 toward Bucksport’s costs.

Details of the most recent revisions to the joint plan were not discussed at the council meeting.

Conditions placed on the council approval were the need for subsequent legal review of the agreement, and the need for the Bucksport treatment plant to achieve compliance with license requirements, which it has exceeded for several years. Some observers believe the license limits were set too low in the first place.

Councilor Don White wondered whether a vote on the agreement was premature, since it still needed legal review. Raymond replied that all parties involved in framing the agreement had understood that council approval should be conditional on review by legal counsel.

White was the lone dissenter in the vote on the agreement. He explained beforehand that he believed the pact represented a potentially permanent relationship that could result in extra costs for Bucksport taxpayers.

Councilor Lisa Whitney said she would vote for the agreement, but with reservations, because she felt the issue should have been placed before town voters. In August, the council reportedly voted 4-3 against holding a town vote, in part because of time considerations.