With only two months to go before the Oak Bluffs wastewater plant switches into gear, the town has no one to man the operation.

Town leaders were all set to hire a private firm to take the job, but when they took a close look at bids from four companies, it was a serious case of sticker shock. Last week, both the wastewater committee and the board of selectmen unanimously rejected all bids.

"We went down [that] route, and we just got stung badly," said wastewater committee chairman Fred Sonnenberg. The numbers, he added, "scare the life out of you."