BETHEL — On Friday night 26 voters approved $3.4M to upgrade Bethel’s failing wastewater treatment plant.
Select board members Frank Del Duca, Meryl Kelly, Patricia McCartney, Lori Swain, and Chairman Lloyd Sweetser, along with Town Manager Natalie Andrews and Assistant Town Manager Amy Hanscom all sat at the front desk with 30 voters in attendance at the special town meeting. Woodstock Town Manager Vern Maxfield moderated in the small and stuffy meeting room on an unseasonably warm evening.
Leading to the meeting on Friday night was a poorly attended public meeting on Feb. 9, led by Fred Gallant from Maine Department of Environmental Protection, select board instructional sessions and warnings of the severity of the situation by former wastewater treatment plant Superintendent Jeff Warden.
“There will be people allowed to vote on this here tonight who will not be affected tax-wise because they are not the unfortunate people like us that are on the sewer,” said resident Rick Whitney who also questioned the hastiness of the meeting and reactiveness of the board.
Responding, Del Duca said, “I don’t think the selectmen have been moving quickly enough on this in the past. We wouldn’t be here if this stuff would have been done when it was prudent to do it. It is past that point now, which brings us to bring you in here on a Friday night underneath the gun to do this. We have to take care of this now. We are very close to having a catastrophic problem here.”
When resident Scott Cole questioned whether the treatment plant was out of compliance, Del Duca responded, “We have pipes that are broken now and they are leaking into the environment.”
The costs were broken down in a detailed spreadsheet handed to voters at the door. The estimated maximum interest rate of 3% for a 28-year maturity is $2.2 million; interest is $1.08 million; the total is $3.28 million.
Treatment plant facility operator Toby Walker confirmed Kelly’s breakdown of the two specific issues at hand.
“The Mill Hill pump station is over 50 years old,” Walker said. “It’s a steel can with a 50-year-old pump sitting in it. The pipe sitting under Route 2 in Mayville is probably the pipe that went straight to the river way back in the day.”
Kelly said that because it is under Route 2 the improvements are costly.
Andrews said the facility has been years in the making. “It is necessary that this move forward according to Maine DEP. The infrastructure has been deteriorating. The decision will be made for you if you don’t make this decision.”
Kelly explained that grant deadlines are pushing the board’s hand. The project is being forwarded with money from a broadband grant and a loan. “We have to spend the loan to get to the grant,” Andrews said.
When Whitney suggested allowing the state to take over the sewer department, Swain responded, “If the state takes over, they will fine us per day.”
Sweetser added, “And will force the upgrades.”
Ratepayers will pay roughly 26% more than currently, Hanscom said.
A town ordinance dictates who pays. “I think it’s an unfair ordinance,” said Kelly.
Resident and business owner Erin Martin asked about expanding the system to other users.
McCartney said, “You’re going to be hooking up to a system that’s not working.”
Kelly said it is something they may look at in the future but is not on the table currently.
Resident Bill Allen asked what would happen if the vote was not approved and the state began to fine.
“Do the ratepayers pay those fines?” Town officials agreed that the entire town would pay state fines.
“So everybody has a dog in this hunt,” said Allen, as the meeting concluded and voters headed into cooler night air.
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