NORWAY — Voters will have a chance to tell officials whether they want to take advantage of a $1.1 million grant to replace miles of century-old sewer pipes on Thursday when the special town meeting gets under way.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the municipal building on Danforth Street.

Voters will be asked to approve the acceptance of a $1,105,000 grant and $385,000 loan financed for 29 years at 2.375 percent from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and appropriate the $1.4 million to fund the public works program.

“It won’t affect the tax rate because the taxpayers won’t be paying it,” said Town Manager David Holt on Tuesday. Holt said that officials also believe the sewer user fees will not increase because the money now being used from sewer user fees to repair the old sewer lines will not be necessary once they are replaced leaving that fund to draw from to repay the $385,000 loan over the 29 years.

The announcement that Norway has received a $1,105,000 grant and a $385,000 loan for waste-water system alterations that will improve sewer system efficiency was made by the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack several weeks ago.

Norway received the largest distribution in the state out of three awards and one of the highest grant awards among recipients in 20 other states.

Officials say the money will be used to replace 1913 clay sewer pipes with PVC pipe in at least a dozen of Norway’s streets.

The project, which is anticipated to begin this summer and last for two years, will address streets such as Fair, Winter, Green, Paris, Whitman, Crescent, Maple, Pleasant and Summer streets along with Cummings Place. Many of the old pipes have broken down over the years causing infiltration and root penetration, officials said.

The project is expected to begin by replacing pipes on Whitman, Crescent, Pine, Fern and Hazen streets and Cummings Place.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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