Nearly two years after the December 2023 storm, which Newry Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey referred to as a “500-year storm,” three engineered sites have been marked for further mitigation.

“It’s amazing when I started looking at all the water that comes into Sunday River Valley and all the different sources,” Corey said of the storm flooding.

“Where the eddies are now and they continue to erode up against the road and wash over … it created a new overflow channel … We’re trying to mitigate that,” she said.

The tagged areas and the estimated costs to complete each are:

• A site near 1030 Sunday River Road: $519,992

• The turnout (further up Sunday River Road): $447, 304

• The letter “S” site: $825,694

The total cost is approximately $1.8 million but Corey recommended adding 20% to that number because of the scope of the job.

She said the town will likely have to pay outright for state permitting by the Department of Environmental Protection, but added that 85-90% of the rest of the project will hopefully be covered by grants.

“We’re waiting on DEP,” Corey said.

One problem that has surfaced is whether or not a compromised watershed due to construction of several houses in the area has contributed to the continued issues.

Corey said that she has required developers to replant vegetation to slow the watershed erosion.