BETHEL – Rather than bring the public to a meeting, Bethel officials are taking a proposed sewer extension project to those who would be impacted most.
Concerned about the coming imminent build-out of Bethel’s Mayville section, officials are seeking feedback from business people and homeowners and have been hand-delivering letters soliciting comment from property owners since Tuesday.
Currently, the town’s sewer main is capped at the new multi-purpose bridge over the Androscoggin River. But, by using the understructure of the bridge, the town is considering extending the main eastward along Route 2 by 3,200 feet.
Town Manager Scott Cole stated in a letter to Mayville property owners and businesses, that about $5,000 in sewer reserve funds has been spent preparing a preliminary design. That design is now being reviewed.
“If the work is going to be done at all, it is likely to occur this fall,” Cole said of Bethel’s mini-Big Dig project.
The initial phase would end near the Irving service station/convenience store, and serve properties in the immediate area, Cole said.
This would include Irving and the Twitchell Brook condominium complex now being built.
Due to topographic conditions, the initial pipe piece would be a force main to transport collected effluent from a pump station near Irving, and run toward the bridge on the highway’s easterly side, Cole said.
Depending on responses from property owners, the general level of interest, and financing alternatives, Cole said the town could opt to expand the level of service beyond Phase I next spring, or over an extended time period.
Expansion beyond Phase I would involve installation of a separate gravity main on the westerly side of the highway, with effluent flowing toward the Irving pump station and its force main, Cole said.
The town would borrow required funds for the project, then recoup the construction cost by charging Mayville area customers a special assessment. Cole is anticipating a 30-year payback of the loan.
“The total annual assessment would equal that year’s debt service due. As more customers were added to the system over time, the amount charged to individual customers would decrease,” he said.
This fee would be atop the normal customer billing based on metered water usage. Sewer customers, Cole said, are currently billed $105 as a minimum quarterly charge, and, at a rate of $7 per 100 cubic feet beyond 1,500 cubic feet.
He roughly estimated the cost of the special assessment at between $32 to $125 per quarter, per customer. That’s why feedback from Mayville property owners is needed to fine-tune the estimate.
Benefits of extending the sewer main include, properties served by it can be more intensely developed for residential or commercial purpose, and, market values of properties with sewer service tend to be higher than they would otherwise be, Cole said.
“The town’s interest in sewering the Mayville area lies in best serving commercial growth along a stretch of road that is already carrying heavy traffic, and is likely to see further development in the future,” he added.
Selectmen are to further discuss the proposal at the board’s 7 p.m. meeting, Monday, Aug. 7, at the town office.
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