AUGUSTA – Dozens of local transportation projects stand to benefit if voters approve a bond package Tuesday.

The referendum asks voters if they favor a $113 million bond for transportation improvements, yielding as much as $260 million in matching funds. It also asks if they favor an $18 million bond for drinking water programs and wastewater treatment facilities, which would gain $50 million in matching funds.

Both bonds would be paid back over 10 years, with an assumed interest rate of 5.5 percent, according to ballot information.

Deborah Garrett, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said $2.9 million of the bond money will go into a revolving loan fund for municipalities that need to do some upgrades.

The rest will go into a pot of money for construction grants, something there is a need for since many wastewater treatment systems were built 30 years ago, “and they weren’t built to last for 30 years,” she said.

“As a community grows it needs to keep up its wastewater facility and treatment capacity,” she added.

Auburn is one city seeking to benefit, as it looks to separate its storm and wastewater pipes, and Paris may also seek funding, said Stephen McLaughin of the Bureau of Land and Water Quality.

On the transportation bonds, $100 million is geared toward highway and bridge improvements and $13 million is marked for multimodal transportation improvements.

Greg Nadeau, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, said the department crafted a work plan assuming the bond package would pass. If it does not, the department will start from scratch prioritizing projects and allocating funding.

Transportation officials are hoping to give Danville Junction in Auburn a facelift so two trains can come through and load and unload cargo. This will ease truck traffic on roads, Nadeau said.

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, is the Senate chairwoman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, which crafted the original package.

She said Maine doesn’t borrow money often, and has a good track record when it has.

From previous bonds, Maine owes $432 million, which includes $62 million in interest payments.

Rotundo, however, emphasized the return on the dollars spent.

Each of the dollars coming to the state through bonds will be matched by federal agencies, some giving as much as $10 for every dollar Maine spends.

“If Maine doesn’t access the money, it’s going to go to other states,” Rotundo said.

Copy the Story Link