LIVERMORE FALLS — Select Boards in Jay and Livermore Falls voted unanimously Thursday evening to approve $3.83 million in upgrades recommended for the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Livermore Falls.

Owned and operated by Livermore Falls, it was built about 1972 and upgraded in 1998, according to a Sun Journal report. It serves sewer users in both towns, which are splitting the cost of the upgrade.

Planning began in 2018, with an initial cost of $5.8 million. Figures provided by Jay/Livermore Falls Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt list $24 million secured as of Tuesday, with $16.25 million provided through grants and $7.75 million from loans. Costs for upgrades for phase 1, which have been completed, are $14 million, for phase 2, the estimate is $3.32 million, and phase 3, $3.83 million, for a total of $21.15 million.

To date, $14.54 million has been spent, leaving a balance of $9.46 million, Holt said. Grant money will be used to pay down the loans, he said.

“The estimated annual payment is $249,400,” he said. “That will be divided between the two towns.”

Federal funding of $1.7 million was awarded in 2021 and $7 million in 2023, according to Holt’s information.

He said from the $3.8 million available for the third phase, conservative estimates for the work leave $608,000 for contingency, if needed. There is no intention of going over the original amount. Further borrowing isn’t being considered, he said. “Something is going to come up, something is going to have to be redesigned,” he said.

Livermore Falls Selectman Jim Long asked about the status of the federal funding under the new administration in Washington, D.C.

“We thought there was going to be a snafu for our last payment,” Holt said. “We hurried, worked really well with our engineers, our contractors and got it submitted before the shutdown. Once the $7 million … is available and we can start to draw on it, we will give the engineer the go-ahead to start designing.”

Holt noted the third phase upgrades were initially going to be done in 10 years. “The money is available and we have the resources to do it now,” he said. “It won’t cost taxpayers because we got the grant money.”

The projects, in order of priority, and estimated costs include:

1. Replace two secondary clarifiers that are about 26 years old: $672,000.

2. Upgrade two grit classifiers that remove grit to protect the pump: $360,000.

3. Build the outer shell for a new garage to allow all vehicles to be under cover (with remaining construction completed by staff to reduce costs): $360,000.

4. Repaint all interior surfaces to coat and seal: $305,000.

5. Upgrade the chlorine tank: $105,000.

6. Upgrade three main flow pumps: $560,000.

7. Upgrade two sludge holding tanks and two aeration blowers: $600,000.

8. Replace roof vent with a galvanized-type one: $50,000.

9. Upgrade security system, provide fiber-optic internet: $50,000.

10. Inspect outfall pipe installed in 1972, repair if needed: $60,000.

11. Upgrade sludge receiving pipe (would allow sludge from other plants to be taken — revenue generating): $100,000.

Holt said if funding were to run out, numbers 6-11 could be completed in house over time. “By putting it in the project, it gets paid for by the grant money. If we can’t do any of those, we would use our reserve account.”

Livermore Falls selectman Bruce Peary asked about the interior painting.

“We are sealing, protecting,” Holt said. “There is paint peeling off and flaking.”

Some areas of the plant are always having water sprayed on them, he said. If a pressurized pump fails, materials end up everywhere, he said.

Holt told Jay Selectperson Lee Ann Dalessandro the approximate size of the garage shell, which will be built where chlorine contact tanks have been filled in, would be about 36 by 44 feet. The garage is one bay and won’t fit everything in it, and the truck has to be taken out if work has to be done under cover, Holt said. Building the garage shell is a big ticket item. It will need to be connected to the existing roof and garage. “It’s not going to be easy to do,” he said.

“With the grant funds we’ve received being just over $16 million, we have locked in what we will be paying,” he said. “Going forward, anything we do down there is covered by grants. We are in good shape.”

Long asked that the two boards be given cost projections once engineering details were worked out.