BIDDEFORD — Area residents will soon have their chance to speak on the potential purchase of the Maine Energy Recovery Company waste-to-energy incinerator. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 3, at 7 p.m. in city council chambers at Biddeford City Hall.

The city council is considering purchasing the incinerator ”“ located at 1 Lincoln St., near the city’s downtown and in its mill district ”“ from the facility’s parent company, Casella Waste Management, for $6.6 million.

The council’s final vote on the issue will be July 31.

According to the purchase and sale agreement, the city will make the purchase by Nov. 15, and Casella, at its own cost, will demolish the incinerator, except for the main stack, within one year of the purchase.

The interest-free payments to the company will be paid over 20 years. The first payment due is $150,000 on Nov. 15; payments will climb to $350,000 annually beginning Nov. 15, 2015, with the final payment due in 2032.

The cost of purchase will not be borne by the city’s property taxpayers, said city officials. It will be paid for through various pots of money.

One pot is $145,000 in annual revenue from cellular phone leases that will be transferred to the city from Casella. Another source is $150,000 each year from the city’s Tax Increment Financing fund.

Included in the agreement is that Casella continue to handle Biddeford’s waste disposal for 10 years, with a 5-year extension option. The cost of trash disposal will rise from the current $47 per ton of waste to $55 per ton. The price will be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

Employees with the Department of Public Works will continue to pick up residential waste weekly. Casella will furnish for free, 35-gallon waste containers for all Biddeford households.

In addition, a curbside pick-up recycling program will be instituted starting July 1, 2013. Pine Tree Waste, a Casella company, will provide either a 65- or 96-gallon recycling container free to each household and will pick up recycling material weekly on the same day as trash collection.

The annual cost for the recycling collection and disposal service is set at $381,000, adjusted each year based on the CPI.

Some of the cost for this program could be offset by a reduction in the cost of waste disposal because of increased recycling, according to city officials.

In addition, Biddeford will have a share in any revenue generated by the selling of its recyclable materials beyond the first 2,000 tons collected each year, according to the agreement.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.