By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

At 9:15 a.m., switches were flipped and Tuesday, Jan. 2 became a historic day in Bridgton.

Few likely saw any real difference in town, but under the surface, a major change had occurred.

Bridgton’s new $23.5 million wastewater system is now on line.

Initial projections had the project completed in early December, but some supply delivery delays and electrical issues at pump stations (there are eight with another to be added during system expansion; pumps used previously were reworked and part of the new system) pushed the start-up to Jan. 2.

“This project has gone through Covid and manufacturing issues that the whole country faced. If we missed it (start-up date) by a couple of weeks, I’d say that’s pretty darn good,” Peabody said.

The complex, three-year project was challenging on multiple fronts, from applying for and landing funding including an $11.5 million grant from Rural Development and $1 million in loan forgiveness from Maine Department of Environmental Protection, to designing and constructing a system and treatment facility.

“So, we essentially, out of $23.5 million, we were able to cover a little over half of that at no cost to the taxpayers. That’s awesome,” Peabody said.

Public Services Director David Madsen said some minor items, such as outside siding, still need to be done at the treatment facility but overall, “everything is operational.” Former collection sites on Wayside Avenue and Junior Harmon Field no longer in use.

“Decommissioning will take a little while. We will pump those tanks out, get them dried out and fill them — basically cap that whole area off,” Madsen said. “We won’t reclaim the field — the pipe will stay in the ground.”

System to be Expanded

The wastewater system will be expanded in 2024, reaching out to Maple Street and Smith Avenue, an additional section on North High Street (from Hospital Drive to almost Willett Road, to service Pike’s Farm), and two extensions on Portland Road — one to serve the Commerce Way development. Bids will soon be sought for the project, with work occurring this construction season.

The expansion will be funded by a $1.4 million federal earmark, which the town office “team” — Peabody, Madsen, Finance Director Holly Heymann and Community Development Director Tori Hill, along with engineer Brent Bridges of Woodard & Curran — landed “through lots of hard work,” as well as $450,000 in county American Rescue Plan Act money and $350,000 in undesignated wastewater fund balance.

“So, we’re not borrowing any money for this expansion. We heard about the earmark being available through Senators King’s and Collins’ offices, and decided to take a chance on applying for funding. The way we handle grants is if we see an opportunity and it fits into what we believe is for the best of the town, we go for it. Then, we allow the Select Board to make the decision how to proceed,” Peabody noted. “We essentially expanded from a little over a hundred customers to the ability to serve over 400 customers.”

When officials started to research developing a new wastewater system about nine years ago, they looked at covering a lot of ground, but at a price the public could afford. The need was obvious. The current system — which handled just gray water — was maxed out, thus limiting business growth and aging.

“We scaled it back to make it more affordable for our rate payers. When we took the project to Rural Development for funding, we had our newly defined base and we also had our wish expansion,” Peabody said. “What we are doing with this upcoming expansion is picking up some of those wish expansions.”

Maple Street and Smith Avenue were targets to install the WW system due proximity to Stevens Brook. Initially, the first plan had the sewer running to Pike’s Farm on South High Street, but it was part of the scale back. To service Main Eco Homes’ new development off Portland Road brings the potential of a “concentrated group” of users to the system, which results in lower overall cost to taxpayers with users picking up more of the sewer costs, as well as “it’s good for the environment.”

One question often raised publicly is how much expansion can the new system handle?

“We can double our current system fairly easily. It was built with that in mind. We already have some of the piping up to where the fields would be if we need to expand the fields,” Madsen said. “The treatment plant was built to where we can just put additional tankage next to what we have.”

A “build-out” analysis was done in designing the system.

“The engineers looked at all of the properties that are being served and have the potential to being served,” Peabody added. “Based on calculations, in the end, you over capacitize what you construct, because it would just be bad planning not to. Not only can we take a lot more at the facility, it’s been designed to be expanded.”

The treatment facility is situated on 20 acres off Portland Road, a property behind Bella Point residential care facility. It includes 19 test wells to monitor the site, as well as a water testing lab, which the town will use in the future to test water samples from local beaches during the summer.

What’s next for Consumers?

A letter will be sent to potential system customers, outlining costs, billing and a list of local contractors who can assist installing pipe to the new system stubs. Estimated cost for excavation and pipe installation from one’s home to the road stub is between $1,800 to $2,200. Peabody pointed out that town officials plan to create a fund to help subsidize installation costs for those meeting income guidelines. Those interested will be asked to file an application (the form is available on the town’s website).

Users can save $600 if they hook into the new system within the first year. After that, users are charged the $600 connection fee. Madsen noted that the town will be “flexible” and “reasonable” regarding excavation work and pipe installation by year’s end, knowing contractors are busy and might not be able to tackle some jobs until a month or two into the next year.

Madsen said conversations have been had with local contractors regarding how the town would like to see piping installed and hooked to the system. The town will inspect the connection before allowing homeowner waste to flow into the system. The town recommends that the previous septic tank either be filled or removed. Madsen said it is both a matter of safety, as well as getting full use of the new system. The previous wastewater system was for just “gray water” whereas the new system and treatment plant are designed to handle “solids.” Madsen noted, “If we’re just bringing in gray water, it’s not what the plant is designed to treat.”

“The sooner we get people hooked up, the quicker we’re able to get it off the taxpayers’ back and onto users using the system,” Peabody added. “Most of the bond costs are being carried by the Route 302 TIF. I think the bonds were about $550,000 last year. Those TIF funds are growing because of all of the construction based on what Justin McIver (MEH) and some others are doing.”

The town has also invested in a web-based utility billing software — Muni-Link, which goes live on July 1 — which will provide sewer customers access to their billing history, rate history, consumption with five years’ worth of data. They will also be able to make online payments with either a bank account at no charge or a credit card with 3% processing fees. Additionally, the web-based platform will allow for direct communications with customers through e-mail and texts, and account wide alerts for sewer department notices for road closures and rate changes.

Madsen, who has wastewater treatment facility experience, expects there will be a “learning curve” for himself and the wastewater system foreman (Howard Trussell, who has a Grade One wastewater license) as the new treatment plant kicks into gear. Woodard & Curran will stay on for a year to help guide the town through basic operations.

“We’ve got plenty of support,” Madsen said.

Nice to reach the finish Line

It’s been a long journey to develop the wastewater project, requiring plenty of support from local staff, the engineering firm, and most of all local taxpayers.

Peabody, who has managed for over 20 years, pointed out the success of any project depends on “a great team.” “We have a great team,” Peabody said.

And, it doesn’t happen without the support of taxpayers.

“It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of effort. I commend the taxpayers who gave us the green light to do this. I give kudos to the voters of Bridgton for looking ahead and embracing the future and doing what was needed to keep our environment safe and enable our town to grow,” Peabody said. “Remember, we put out to vote both the Main and Lower Main Street streetscape projects and wastewater all at the same time, and our citizens embraced all three of those projects by almost a 2-to-1 vote. Even though some people kept saying this would never happen, it has happened.”