LEWISTON – An official answer on a possible landfill management deal will wait until later this week, according to the group reviewing proposal.

“I think we just need to hold our breath for one more day, and see what the public has to say at Wednesday’s forum,” said Robert Reed, member of the city’s Solid Waste Task Force.

Reed and other task force members will be on hand tonight at the city’s Multi-Purpose Center for a forum to discuss the landfill and possible management deal with Casella Solid Waste.

He expects the task force to meet at least once more before the Sept. 11 City Council meeting. Councilors are scheduled to decide that day if they’ll put the item before voters this November.

At issue is a proposed management deal for the city’s landfill. Lewiston would get Casella, a private company, to manage the city landfill and pay for future expansions. Casella would get room to expand its New England operation and a station for debris on its way elsewhere.

Casella would pay the city up to $2.5 million the first year, plus a minimum of $800,000 per year in monitoring and host fees. Casella would also take over the KTI Biofuels facility off Plourde Parkway and convert it to a sorting facility for construction and demolition debris within four years.

Based on a city Solid Waste Task Force’s calculations the deal would give Lewiston about $47 million over 30 years. That would be enough to take about $100 off of the average tax bill.

But it would mean a drastically shorter life for the city landfill. Rather lasting 620 years, the landfill would be full at the end of 30.

More answers

The task force met Tuesday with City Attorney Martin Eisenstein to discuss the possible contract. Eisenstein said Lewiston would be in a better position than other Maine municipalities when dealing with Casella since the city would continue to own the facility. He said the city could also structure the contract to demand that no incinerators would ever be built in Lewiston.

The current plan doesn’t include bringing incinerators to the city.

Lewiston Landfill forum

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center

Who: Robert Reed, moderator; Jim Bennett, city administrator; Paul Boudreau, public works director; Rob Stalford, solid waste superintendent; Martin Eisenstein, city attorney; Brian Oliver, Casella regional vice president; Don Meagher, Casella planning and development manager; Toni King, Casella regional manager for permits, compliance, engineering and construction; state Rep. Elaine Makas, D-Lewiston.

Rebroadcast: Video of the forum will be recorded and shown on Great Falls TV. The city will announce airing times and dates later this week