Proposed Amazon distribution hub draws crowd in Waterville

WATERVILLE — Dozens of Waterville and Sidney residents grilled Amazon representatives Tuesday night on the company’s plan to build a distribution center in central Maine.

Camber Development, a Boston-based company, is in the early stages of applying for the permits needed to build a 159,000 square foot building on about 50 acres on Junction Road near Trafton Road.

The parcel is in both the city of Waterville and the town of Sidney and is close to an I-95 offramp.

Adam Cote, a Maine based attorney who works for Amazon, said the Waterville/Sidney project, along with those in Calais, Hermon and Gorham, are designed to help the company better serve customers.

“These projects are basically to try to speed up delivery of packages to people in Maine,” he said.

The “last mile” distribution center will accept deliveries from tractor-trailers coming off I-95 — mostly from Massachusetts and Connecticut — and then allow vans to pick up the items for customer delivery.

The Waterville/Sidney location will add an estimated 150 to 200 jobs to the region and will generate about 1,000 trips per day, developers and engineers said Tuesday.

But locals gathered at the city hall annex raised questions about increased traffic, noise, pollution, and the impact the center could have on local businesses.

They also asked about whether drones will be used — developers said that’s not in the plan — and whether a data center could be built on the site.

The developers said the plans as drafted don’t leave enough room for a data center, which is a large building with computer servers that will be needed to power AI and other information technology advances.

They also emphasized that the Waterville/Sidney project is in the early stages and that the public will have opportunities to weigh in at local planning board, Department of Transportation and other meetings.

Sidney resident Tim Stonesifer said he came to the Tuesday meeting in hopes of getting information and to connect with neighbors about the project.

“What I heard today was a lot of concern related to traffic,” he said. “How much the volume of traffic that’s going to be coming in and out, the sound that’s related to that, how that’s going to affect neighbors and water effects.”

Tim Stonesifer of Sidney says he has many questions about the proposed Amazon distribution center. (Spectrum News/Susan Cover)