OXFORD — The town intends to ask the federal government for additional funding to connect Wal-Mart and Oxford Hills Elementary School to its sewer system. 

The cost of the expansion is of yet unknown and the projects hinge upon on the availability of funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Office, Town Manager Michael Chammings said last week. 

Oxford is in the second phase of a state-of-the-art sewer project to install pipes throughout its Tax Increment Financing District along Route 26 and, to a lesser degree, into downtown Oxford along Route 121 and King Street.

A year ago, the town received $23.7 million from Rural Development to complete the project, with $10 million — about 45 percent — coming in the form of grants. To finance the expansion, the town would look for a similar deal, with loans repaid through the fees charged for using the sewer, Chammings said. 

The town has several weeks before a May deadline to apply, during which engineers from Woodard and Curran are putting together the paperwork and crews will begin surveying to determine its cost.

Under the current plan, sewage will be force pumped from a series of collection points to the facility, located near Welchville Dam on Route 121, fed from miles of sewer lines running from Rabbit Valley Road near Oxford Casino down Route 26 to the intersection with Skeetfield Road.

At Route 121, the pipes will turn left into the town village, across the Little Androscoggin River and onto King Street, a few hundred yards from Oxford Elementary School.

Bringing the pipes to the school would replace an aging septic system, costing upwards of $900,000, according to School Administrative District 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts. Colpitts said he already inquired about securing an interest-free loan through the Department of Education to cover $400,000; the town, through the federal government, would finance the remainder, pending approval from the school district’s board of directors. 

Wal-Mart could be asked to enter a similar arrangement. The current end point of the sewer falls about a mile from the shopping center and, according to Chammings, the retailer’s leech fields are failing, making the prospects of connecting to the sewer system appealing. 

From a business standpoint, Chammings said hooking in makes sense: paying an annual sewer fee is usually much cheaper than installing a new septic tank. 

However, expansion is as much about helping businesses as getting the facility up and running, according to Woodard and Curran Vice President Brent Bridges. 

Convincing larger entities to hook into the system as soon as it comes guarantees the facility will have an adequate water flow, and sets the bar for the average amount of sewage engineers can expect to handle.

The facility is designed to grow with need. Tt will be rated to treat 150,000 gallons a day, but can expand up to 250,000. 

According to Bridges, hooking Wal-Mart in would have the same effect as a large number of private homes. 

“It’s like flushing a toilet; you need a gallon, if you put a couple of cups, it won’t work well,” Bridges said.  

Bridges clarified that the town can afford to install sewer lines to Wal-Mart. However, instead utilizing funds that will be repaid by businesses other than Wal-Mart, the project will be bid out as an add-on, with separate funding sought. 

A spokesperson for Wal-Mart did not return a message left Friday. 

When asked if he was concerned that the project might give the appearance the town was subsidizing the company, Selectman Peter Laverdiere said he was aware of that it might give off that perception, and the town was working in the best interest of taxpayers. 

Selectman Roger Jackson said the town has always kept its eye on expanding the scope of the project, if there was federal money available. 

“This is something the Town of Oxford should have done years ago,” Jackson said.

He said the town would likely ask the company to come up with half the project’s cost, securing other half through a combination of grants and loans. 

“It’s not the way I like to do business, but if (the money) is out there, we should take it,” Jackson said.