AUGUSTA (AP) – Projects ranging from helping Maine students to download images from the state archive to replacement of the weakened Waldo-Hancock Bridge would receive funding through an $89.3 million bond package going before voters Nov. 4.

The long-term borrowing package, comprising Questions 4, 5 and 6 on the ballot, addresses three areas: $6.9 million for environmental projects; $19 million for educational investments; and $63.5 million for transportation improvements.

The total is slightly more than the $85 million worth of bonds the state will pay off this year, according to state Treasurer Dale McCormick.

Public debate since the package was introduced by Gov. John Baldacci and shaped by the Legislature has been muted, as casino gambling and tax relief proposals higher up on the ballot drew most of the campaign funding and voter attention.

Advocates have sought to get their messages through by modestly funded campaigns, and no organized opposition surfaced.

Baldacci, a Democrat, sees the borrowing as a key to one of the three priorities he set forth after taking office this year: economic growth. The other two goals were balancing the state budget and passing a universal health care bill, both of which were accomplished.

One of the big selling points – especially for Questions 4 and 6 – is the anticipated match in federal dollars, a total estimated by state officials to be more than $230 million.

McCormick said interest rates that the state would pay, probably around 4.75 percent, are higher than they were in the last few years, but still low in comparison to longer-term averages.

McCormick also said the proposed bond sale would keep the state’s debt service well below a benchmark for prudence: 5 percent of general and highway fund revenues. In fact, the debt would be at 3.9 percent, an all-time low, she said.

The $6.9 million environmental bond package would draw more than $14 million in matching funds. Of the total, $3.5 million is for new and upgraded water pollution control facilities, and $500,000 is to clean up uncontrolled hazardous substance sites.

Another $500,000 would help local governments replace wastewater discharge systems that pollute public water or shellfish areas; and the same amount would eliminate licensed sewage dumping near shellfish areas and lakes.

Other components of the environmental bonds include $1.2 million to pay for improvements in drinking water systems to remove public health threats, and $750,000 to build water sources to help farmers avoid drought damage.

Question 5 supporters say the $19 million bond issue will benefit all regions of the state and make needed repairs in Maine’s public college system in the face of increasing enrollments.

“This is a boost for Maine’s talent pool and our economy,” says Citizens for Higher Education and Public Libraries, which has raised more than $75,000 to pay for TV and newspaper advertisements.

More than half of the educational bonds would go to community college system, which would get $12 million to improve buildings, make them more accessible to disabled students, expand parking lots and make other changes at all seven campuses needed to accommodate a surge in student enrollments – 35 percent this year alone.

More than a third of the community college money would go to the South Portland campus.

The University of Maine System would get $4.5 million to upgrade health and safety in laboratory buildings at its campuses, with $2 million of the total set aside to improve and expand facilities at the Lewiston-Auburn campus.

Of the remaining funds, Maine Maritime Academy would get $1 million to repair and replace classrooms, help buy a new bridge simulator for navigation training and upgrade technology.

The final $1.5 million would go out as grants to about two dozen public libraries and $100,000 to the Maine Historical Society, which would buy equipment enabling students to download photos and documents from the state archives using their laptop computers.

The final question on the ballot would raise $63.5 million for transportation improvements, which alone would draw at least $217 million in matching funds.

“The impact that the transportation bonds have perennially is well-known and well-understood by Maine voters,” said Greg Nadeau of the state Transportation Department. “There really is no better bang for the buck than transportation bonds.”

The bonds account for a large chunk of funding for the state’s two-year transportation program, which includes 2,000 miles of highway resurfacing, 180 miles of highway reconstruction and 80 bridges. Those projects in turn translate into 10,000 jobs, Nadeau said.

They include $4 million toward replacement of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge, whose cables have deteriorated over its seven decades of service. Because of its weakened condition, the Department of Transportation in July closed the bridge to trucks and abandoned plans to refurbish it.

The Legislature has already appropriated money for temporary support cables. The $4 million in the bond issue is only a part of the federal and state money that will be needed to replace the span across the Penobscot River from Prospect to Verona Island.

Of the total bond issue, $42 million is dedicated to that and other highway and bridge projects, while railroad improvements would get s $7.9 million; ports and ferries $4.5 million; airports $3.6 million; and walkways and bikeways $1.25 million.

Notable among the rail projects would be $3 million to continue the work of extending the Boston-to-Portland rail passenger line to Brunswick, Nadeau said.

The final $3 million would go to the Public Safety Department to improve Maine’s air-medical response system with more hospital helipads, more refueling facilities and better navigational systems.

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On the Net:

Secretary of State, referendum guide: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/2003n/intco03n.htm

AP-ES-10-24-03 1405EDT