LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen authorized highway foreman Bill Nichols on Monday to warn people not to plow snow across public roads and sidewalks because it’s a violation of state law.

Nichols said he is having some problems with people and would like to give them a warning and if that doesn’t work, have the Police Department enforce the law.

Selectmen agreed.

The board also voted to apply for state revolving loan funds to replace sewer lines on Main Street.

Sewer Department Superintendent Kent Mitchell told selectmen that he received a call in regards to a potential stimulus package President-elect Barack Obama is proposing for infrastructure work to get the economy going.

The money is supposedly going to be ready to be spent 90 to 120 days after the new president takes office, Mitchell said.

The town was awarded a grant for $182,700 in 2004 but to get it, the town would have to take out a low interest loan for $223,000 to replace the sewer lines on Main Street, Mitchell said.

The project was expected to be done in conjunction with the Maine Department of Transportation reconstruction of Route 4, from Bridge Street to Pineau Street in Jay. The DOT has put the project off until at least 2011.

The Livermore Falls Water District had also planned to replace water lines at the same time the road work was to be done.

There is potential for the state revolving loan fund money to have zero interest, Mitchell said.

The cost to do the sewer project has increased at least $200,000 since the original estimate in 2004, Mitchell said.

A videotaping of the sewer main installed about 1911 showed holes and cracks in the line among other deficiencies. According to the report two years ago, the lines were at or near failure in several areas.

In addition to the grant, the town would have to borrow $400,000 to get the sewer project done, Mitchell said.

There are two ways of looking at it, Mitchell said. The first is it’s never going to be cheaper, and the second is the sewer rates will have to be raised to pay for it, he said.

There is a possibility that the state would waive all but 10 percent of road opening permit fees, he said.

“They’re looking for plans that have already been designed. They want this to be bid out in April,” he said.

If the Sewer Department wants to move forward with the project, it needs to be on the list to get money by mid-January, Mitchell said.

“So it’s a double-edged sword. We almost can’t afford to do it. We almost cannot afford not to do it,” he said.

It would raise the rates about $30 a year per household or about $7 a quarter, he said.

Selectman Bill Demaray recommended they apply for the money and see if the town qualifies.

The longer the project is put off, the more the cost is going to increase, he said.