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WILTON – Selectmen approved sending requests for qualifications to engineering firms specializing in sewer treatment Tuesday evening, in the first step of a possible attempt to replace or upgrade the local sewer plant.
That facility, which is now 31 years old and uses a system no longer popular in Maine, would cost millions of dollars to replace. Instead, Sewer Department Superintendent Russell Mathers and Town Manager Rhonda Irish are looking at other options, such as a less-costly upgrade. The town, Irish told selectmen, could also potentially benefit from federal stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“We are at a point, and are in a position to have to do some serious work on the sewer system,” Mathers wrote in report to the selectmen.
Selectman Russell Black and Selectman Chair Terry Brann both attended a recent convention on the subject of sewer treatment infrastructure.
“Russ [Mathers] has done a superb job of running that plant on a shoestring,” Black said. “The only reason it’s still going is this man sitting here.”
Black added, however, that should any problem develop in the future it could be “extremely expensive to fix.”
A variety of grants, ranging from 45 to 70 percent of the cost of improvements, are possible options for the town. Irish said that the first step was to have a review of the plant conducted. That information could then be used in the filing of grant applications, or simply to assist in running the aging facility.
Selectmen approved sending requests for qualifications, a precursor to an interview process, to 11 firms recommended by Mathers. Additionally, Irish said she would begin working on an income survey, a necessary piece of a grant application.
The selectmen also approved the sewer department’s budget, which at $279,474 is substantially less than the 2008-2009 budget of $375,844. The big reduction is the result of the Maine Municipal Bond Bank bond on the sewer plant being paid off.
