Old Orchard Beach residents will be asked to approve a $9.8 million bond to complete upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment facility and pump station on June 11.
In February, the Town Council voted to confirm Apex Construction Inc. as the general contractor on the long-awaited project.
Led by consulting firm Woodard and Curran, the project will address critical issues such as code, safety, capacity, structural integrity, permit compliance, energy savings, and useful life issues.
Client Strategist Brent Bridges told the Town Council last week that a pre-construction meeting with Apex Construction Inc. took place this month.
“Everything is signed and ready to go,” Bridges said. “We’ve been in the process of reviewing submittals and generators. All of those take over a year to get.”
Last month, Woodard and Curran submitted a proposal for funding from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in hopes of securing project funding.
Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected and funding was not received, but Bridges remains hopeful.
Of the 13 applicants accepted by the DEP, OOB was project number 16, Bridges said. This means that if another applicant decides not to use their funding from the DEP this year, OOB could potentially receive funding.
“We’re still hopeful that some opportunities are there,” Bridges said. “We’re working as hard as we can to find sources of funding.”
Upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment facility are very important, Bridges said last week. The facility is 40 years old and has never received any significant upgrades.
In 2019, Woodard and Curran were hired to develop a Fiscal Sustainability Plan for Old Orchard, identifying system needs and priorities, and in 2020, the town overwhelmingly approved a $23.5 million bond to finance upgrades to the wastewater treatment facility, which does not currently meet DEP standards.
Due to rising costs associated with the project, the $23.5 million was not enough to cover the entire project cost, which was estimated at $28.2 million.
The town has already used some of the funding on other sewer-related projects, Town Manager Diana Asanza said.
“We purchased equipment for the project, and Walnut Street was a part of this,” Asanza said, referring to a recent sewer upgrade on Walnut Street.
In 2021, an operations building for the wastewater facility was completed, giving staff a better location away from the future construction site.
Bridges is hopeful that construction will officially start in the second week of August, and should take about two years to complete. The project will also implement design features to keep the plant safe from increased storm events, he said.
“Because of the storm events we’ve had over the past couple of years, more and more storm water gets into the plant,” Bridges said. “We’re doing what we can to upgrade the wastewater plant so we can handle any storm event that happens.”
Voters will vote on a project that Bridges calls “resiliency” — essentially, preparing the town for a future of increased storms that could affect the wastewater systems.
Voting will take place on June 11 at Old Orchard Beach High School.
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