Pike-Idexx Agreement Still Faces City Council Vote

AJ:

[W]hile Pike regional manager Jonathan Olson and Idexx president Jonathan Ayers
shook hands at an Aug. 20 press conference at City Hall and said they were happy
with the deal, a number of the city’s other businesses and residents decidedly
are not. The consent agreement is not final--it still needs the approval of the
City Council. And some businesses and residents are hoping to persuade
councilors to reject it outright--or at least send it back for further
negotiations to change it. The council will hold a public hearing and vote on
the proposal on Monday, Aug. 30. At the public hearing, the council is likely to
hear vocal opposition from those upset that the agreement would allow Pike to
resume blasting and other quarrying operations at the site.

The PPH has editorialized in favor of the agreement, but ARTEL's Senior Scientific Manager George Rodrigues has rebuked the agreement in writing, while Artel's CEO Kirby Pilcher spoke out against the agreement on Fox's Good Day Maine.

- John C.L. Morgan