Recycling didn’t work then, and it won’t now. There is no market for it.

As for a per bag fee, we residents of Waterville can’t afford it. We live on the edge now, paycheck to paycheck. My taxes for my home in Waterville went up $100 last year. Wages here in Waterville, for the most part, are well below middle class, with one institution locally giving raises of 2 percent or less, and sometimes none at all.

I’m really tired of our mayor and her cohorts at the city hall just passing the buck to the residents of this city, feeling that we will just pay in the end. I’ve held my tongue for several years now as city officials have spent money we did not have.

I wonder how much the new police building will cost us per year in upkeep and utilities? Maybe this is what the per bag fee is for?

I also wonder what will happen this year with the school budget? I saw a school bus, parked in a private yard behind me this past winter, run all day long when school was canceled because of the cold. This happened more than just once. All school buses should be parked at the junior high, where there are plug-ins designed for them, not running in a private yard. Not to mention the pollution.

If nothing at all, why not have a committee figure out ways that we can charge per use services to our many nonprofits? That would make serious sense to me. The day of receiving “free” emergency services is long since past. Officials should work on a proposal for this, instead of always reaching into our pockets.

We all need to say no to per bag charges and recycling.

Michael E. Williams Sr.Waterville