LIVERMORE FALLS – Officials from Jay and Livermore Falls agreed Monday night to make a joint application for a Community Development Block Grant for sewer line replacements on Route 4, Main Street, in both communities.

The application is due Dec. 10 with Livermore Falls as the lead grantee, according to an interlocal agreement approved by and signed by the Livermore Falls board. The agreement runs through Dec. 31, 2008.

Jay Town Manager Ruth Marden, who was present with Jay Selectman Alan Labbe and Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt, will take the agreement to her board Monday and it will be dated Nov. 22, the date of Jay’s meeting.

During a public hearing for the application, Jeff Preble of Wright-Pierce, which would do the engineering for the job, explained that the work would run from Bridge Street in Livermore Falls to Pineau Street in Jay.

The sewer line will be replaced, as will the water lines, when the state rebuilds the road, a project that had been scheduled tentatively for both 2004 and 2005.

“It’s been pretty hard to get a handle on a date,” he said. “The best guess, as of today, is the state’s 2006 construction program.”

Preble said the sewer in both towns is in pretty rough shape, and the 1911 installation wouldn’t take the work. About 5,000 feet of pipe is to be removed and replaced in the same trench. He feels this will reduce the wet weather flows to the treatment facility, reduce maintenance requirements and eliminate potential blockages.

Cost for the Livermore Falls portion is estimated at $406,000 and the Jay part at $491,000. Livermore Falls has received a grant of $182,700 from Rural Development plus a $223,300 loan at 4.75 percent.

Repaying the loan could result in a rate increase for Livermore Falls’ customers, who are already paying high rates, according to Sewer Superintendent Kent Mitchell, who described them as being at the maximum.

Jay customers pay only part of their actual sewer costs, with the remainder paid through tax dollars.

At the close of the hearing, host Chairman Ken Jacques asked the Jay delegates to remain, noting that the two boards need to meet to discuss future cooperative ventures, from town managers to police and fire departments.

“We’re two very small towns. No one from outside even knows we’re two separate towns. We need to work together,” he said. “The state’s pushing toward it, offering incentives; the time to do it is now,” he continued.

Marden agreed to take the topic to her board, and Labbe suggested a date be set before year’s end.