The Select Board will hear further details Sept. 30 about the cost of installing new sewer lines during the 1.1 mile reconstruction of state Route 17, which is expected to start next spring.

One option is having taxpayers help shoulder up to $3.4 million for the work, instead of just sewer users.

The project, which is required to meet federal highway safety standards, will begin at the intersection with state Route 133, known locally as Shuy Corner. It will affect Park, Depot, Main, Pleasant and Church streets.

The Maine Department of Transportation held a public hearing on the project in May 2024.

If the town doesn’t put in new lines during the project, it would cost about $500,000, including engineering, to fix any breaks in the lines during the roadwork, Livermore Falls-Jay Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt said.

The clay pipes are cracked and fragile as it is, he said, and won’t withstand the road reconstruction.

If the sewer mains and sewer services are replaced during the reconstruction, it would cost up to $3.4 million, Holt said.

The DOT has about $15 million for the project. Of that amount, $4 million is from the federal government.

On Sept. 16, DOT Acting Commissioner Dale Doughty offered to loan money to the town, or the town could apply for money from a state revolving loan fund.

Doughty will bring dollar amounts to the Select Board meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 30, tentatively at the Town Office, to discuss what a loan and payments would look like. Town Manager Carrie Castonguay has run a couple different scenarios of repayment options through the state revolving loan fund program and will present them as well.

“Unfortunately, when the project was planned a number of years ago it was done by DOT with just DOT and neither of the (water or sewer) utilities,” Castonguay said. “The Water District is in the same boat but they have already secured their (state revolving loan) for their share of the project,” Castonguay said. 

She said she has searched for grants for two years and other funding options and has not been successful.

Livermore Falls Water District Superintendent Scott Greenleaf said the cast-iron water main in the area of the reconstruction project is 125 years old and needs to be replaced. It will be cheaper if the town and Water District worth together with DOT, he said.

If the Water District is part of the project, it will cost just over $2 million to replace water mains, water services, hydrants and gate valves, Greenleaf said.

He said he has secured money from the state revolving loan fund to pay for some of it. The district would be eligible to have 38% of the principal forgiven, he said.

Greenleaf said he plans to apply for federal funds.