FARMINGTON – Plans for the proposed Whistle-Stop Trail bridge have hit a snag. Town Manager Richard Davis explained the preliminary engineer drawing to selectmen on Tuesday and discussed what would have to be done.

The proposal calls for a bridge to span the Sandy River at the site of what was the railroad trestle. It would connect the Whistle-Stop Trail from West Farmington to Farmington.

But the abutments from the trestle that was taken down several years ago can’t be used, he said. New ones will have to be poured, which will not only make the bridge longer but bring the cost up to $1.1 million.

That was twice as much as the committee t hought it would need and they are not sure how to fund it, he said. The committee of Buzz Davis, Sandy Richards and the manager, which has been working on the project for more than two years, will have to look at other options, including raising 20 percent locally, he said.

Snowmobilers and all-terrain vehicles now cross the river over the Center Bridge sidewalk creating safety problems, he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Davis told selectmen, has determined a treatment method for the Hows Corner Superfund site in Plymouth and is ready to reach a settlement. The cost to the town to settle the matter would be $23,000.

Back in the late 1960s, Davis said, Farmington shipped 150 gallons of waste oil to a site in Plymouth run by a company called Portland-Bangor Waste Oil and run by George West. The company became defunct.

The site became contaminated, and the town along with SAD 9 and other towns, schools and private garages were made responsible for the cleanup. The town learned of its responsibility around 1999, he said.

Many of those responsible, around 150, banded together as a group, he said. Since then, the town has paid several thousand dollars for representation by Eaton Peabody in Bangor and administrative fees pertaining to the group.

The board discussed how the $23,000 settlement might be funded before the end of this budget year. The town, he said, took a low or no interest loan of $8,400 from the Finance Authority of Maine loan program that could be used and a bill in the Legislature may add money to the loan program from which the town may apply.

In other business, the 2007 sewer budget was approved and there will be no increase in sewer rates for the first quarter, Davis said. Each quarter is decided at the time but they are trying to hold costs down.

A bid for a split ductless air conditioning system for the town office was awarded to John Travers Plumbing and Heating from Unity for a wall unit for $5,962.

Selectmen also signed the warrant for the SAD 9 budget vote on June 12. Farmington’s share is up $122,000 from last year, Davis said.

One-way parking signs for Church Street have been ordered. While the amendment in the traffic ordinance went into effect immediately after the selectmen’s vote, he said, the road will not actually be one way until the signs are in place.