NORWAY – The Board of Selectmen is expected to award the contract for a $1.5 million downtown sewer project at its meeting Thursday evening.

Norway was awarded a federal stimulus grant through Maine Rural Development that could pay as much as 75 percent of a proposed $1.5 million sewer project to address 100-year-old sewer lines in the downtown area. The money will be used to replace more than 1,000 feet of sewer pipes in the Fair, Paris, Whitman, Cottage, Pine, Oak and King streets area that were installed in 1913.

“Once the contract is signed, I will have a better idea of which streets are to be done when,” Town Manager David Holt said.

Holt said the bids came in $40,000 to $80,000 lower than expected and because of that he expects some additional work may be added to the contract.

“The town believes that this flexibility helps obtain lower bids,” said Holt of the proposal that allows contractors to do the work this fall and into next spring.

According to previous information from Holt, the Fair Street area, including Green and Winter streets, will be the largest and most costly part of the project. The cost was estimated to be about $501,000.

Norway has one of the oldest sewer systems in the state. Work has been ongoing since 1992 to address the old lines, including those on Beal Street and Water Street that were replaced about five or six years ago. Some of the lines near Stephens Memorial Hospital on Green, Winter and Main streets are actually under buildings and run through private lots in a crisscross pattern.

Other areas that will be done are Paris and Winter streets; Whitman and Cresent streets, Cummings Place and Maple Street; Cottage, Pine, Marston, Hazen and Fern streets; and Oak and King streets.

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