Camden sets May 2 deadline for Rockport sewer payment, cites pipe shutoff; Maine DEP warns Camden Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Rockport officials consider wastewater options, new treatment facility Monday, May 3, 2021

Approval given to small summer concerts in Rockport Village Mary Lea Park Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Rockport officials approve $5.8 million sewer extension Monday, February 22, 2021

Rockport to consider $5.8 million sewer extension contract, financing a $128,950 plow truck Sunday, February 21, 2021

Maine Water Co. responds to Rockport sewer system billing concerns Thursday, December 24, 2020

Rockport officials discuss building new wastewater facility for the town Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Rockport to address skyrocketing wastewater bills, consider adjustments Monday evening Sunday, August 9, 2020

Rockport residents aghast at 50 to 300 percent increase in wastewater bills Thursday, July 30, 2020

Rockport cites pandemic sequestering, higher administrative costs, watering as reasons for high wastewater, water bills Wednesday, July 29, 2020

CAMDEN — Two years ago, Rockport filed suit in Knox County Superior Court against Camden over public school payments. Now, Camden has filed suit against Rockport for nonpayment of sewer bills.

The complaint is dated June 13, and was filed by Camden Attorney Bill Kelly.

See attached PDF for full complaint

In it, Kelly wrote that the balance due is $201,590.06.

Kelly included in the documentation all charges and payments received from Rockport from April 25, 2006 through June 3, 2022.

Rockport has, “repudiated its obligation to pay for sewage treatment in the same manner and course of dealing that is has been invoiced and paid for approximately 30 years,” he wrote.

Furthermore, Rockport created its own rules and formulae for calculating and paying Camden for the sewer system, he said.

Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke said June 24 that the town had no comment on the complaint.

“We’re withholding comment on this until the Board meets next week,” he said.

The Rockport Select Board will convene for a regularly scheduled meeting June 27, at the Rockport Opera House. That meeting will be streamed live on Vimeo.

A battle over sewer bills has only escalated over the past several months, and the amount that Camden is demanding has increased.

In April, Camden demanded $146,452.72 in sewer bill payments from Rockport, with a deadline of May 2. Now the amount is $201,590.

Camden warned in April that if its demands were not met, that town would file a claim of unjust enrichment in the Knox County District Court.

The complaint maintains that Rockport is not paying the full amount of what it is obligated to pay per a 1990 interlocal agreement. That agreement ran out in 2020, and was due for renewal.

According to the complaint, Rockport underpaid its quarterly invoices, presenting a situation that, “has not occurred in the 30 years that Camden has treated Rockport Sewer Waste pursuant to the agreement and the course of dealing.”

“Rockport has not provided any written response to Camden regarding a demand for payment letter dated and sent March 28, 2022,” the complaint said.

Rockport, on the other hand, has argued that Camden has been charging above and beyond what is necessary.

“For the last several years, prior to entering into a new agreement, Rockport asked Camden to explain why Rockport wastewater users are billed for Camden’s needs that have no relation to the treatment of Rockport’s waste,” wrote the Rockport Select Board, in a March 23 public statement. “Culvert replacement on Cobb Road? No response. Trucks or employees with no responsibilities to repair issues across the Rockport line? No response. Why has Camden’s wastewater rate doubled since 2016? No response.”

Earlier this year, Camden suggested that Rockport continue pursuing its own means of sewer disposal.

In the meantime, Rockport has been asking Camden to reconvene the joint municipal committee that oversees the Camden-Rockport sewer relationship, but Camden has not accommodated that request.

Rockport has approached Rockland about taking more of Rockport’s waste (all the waste from Route 1 South, from Pen Bay Medical Center to Glen Cove, is routed to the Rockland sewer system).

“We’re communicating with the city and trying to figure out what that future might look like, but it’s really too early to say if it is feasible or not,” said Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke. “There are some real technical and financial challenges that have to be overcome to make that possible.”

At the June 21 Camden Select Board meeting, new board member Tom Hedstrom reported that he received communication from Rockport’s new board member Jim Annis.

“He wanted me to know that Rockport has a new board, as well, and they look forward to working with us on the wastewater treatment,” said Hedstrom.

“I spoke to Jim at length at the Household Hazard Waste day,” said Camden Select Board member Alison McKellar.

With no meetings scheduled for the two towns to talk about the sewer agreement impasse, the matter now rests in Knox County Superior Court.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657

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