NEW GLOUCESTER — At a special meeting on Friday morning, selectmen approved $15,000 more for ongoing technical and legal work to support the Upper Gloucester Village public water project.
The money will be taken from a tax increment financing fund of roughly $500,000, Town Manager Sumner Field III said.
The funds are earmarked for requirements that include writing a charter to allow the town to form a public water supply system and legal costs for legislative and public approvals.
The proposed water system can serve up to 88 residences as well as town facilities, Memorial School, manufacturers, day care centers, restaurants and clubs.
Completed preliminary engineering studies done by Wright-Pierce of Topsham for the town will be available when the board meets Dec. 5.
An income survey within the area for the public water supply shows that households meet poverty guidelines, making the project eligible for grants.
The survey also indicated the project is eligible to apply for funding from the Cumberland County Community Development Block Grant program.
In addition, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection oil cleanup money is expected to provide funds to mitigate gasoline contamination in part of the project area.
Underground gasoline storage tank failures identified in the 1980s in Upper Gloucester have led to the detection of benzene and/or MBTE in 22 Upper Village water supplies.
And, household water filtering systems in 12 locations allow sodium and chloride levels to exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards.
Water in Memorial School on Route 231 has uranium levels twice the level of EPA drinking water standards and has filters in place.
The town has identified deep sand and gravel and bedrock aquifer at the New Gloucester Fairgrounds on the Bald Hill Road that lies west of the Royal River. It has high water quality and a production rate of 60 gallons per minute, more than twice the anticipated demand.
Water from this aquifer requires minimal treatment to remove radon, Matt Reynolds of Drumlin Associates has said.
Town Planner Paul First outlined the next steps in the process:
* Draft legislation for Augusta by the end of November to be presented to the board on Dec. 5
* Steve Levy, executive director of Maine Rural Water to attend the Dec. 5 meeting to help the town.
* Selectmen’s approval of the project.
* Wright-Pierce submitting a final engineering preliminary report on the overview of the project in December.
* An application expected to be submitted to Maine Rural Water in January.
* A public forum expected in January.
* A referendum vote for the area of the water district to be clarified.
* Engineering construction drawings completed in the spring.
* Funding approval information expected in the spring.
* A final town vote in May to proceed.
* Construction starting in the summer of 2013, if all approvals are granted.
“There are multiple funding sources,” said board Chairman Steve Libby. “They have all been supportive, but we don’t have funding yet.”
Town Planner Paul First said, “Funding is not assured. This is a work in process.”
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