OXFORD — A proposed state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility along Route 26 will be online by the end of September, Town Manager Michael Chammings announced Thursday.

“I think it’s going to be well worth our while, the time and money we’ve spent on it,” Chammings said.

The system is an essential attraction to bring businesses into the region, allowing companies to significantly reduce their utility expenses, according to Jim Delamater, chairman of the Western Maine Economic Development Council.

The proposed facility to be constructed at the Welchville Dam will be fed by a handful of pump stations connected to miles of sewer lines running from through the Route 26 business corridor.

Speaking at a public hearing over the town’s $24 million application for federal funding to expand the scope of the project into rural parts of town, Chammings told a handful of investors and residents that bidding on the project will likely go out in the next three weeks.

In December 2012, Oxford voters approved borrowing more than $20.2 million to fund the sewer system.

Last April, selectmen took out a $13.7 million loan through the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to fund construction of the first phase.

Originally slated to be opened this spring, the project’s schedule has been pushed back because of difficulties obtaining easements from property owners and a prolonged, harsh winter.

Business interest in the project has grown, Delamater said, as developers look to time projects with the sewer system. The burning question Delamater typically fields, he said, is, “‘when will the sewer go online?'”

“A lot of people are interested, but nothing can be solidified until we know the plan,” Delamater said. “The cost of adding a facility without a sewer system is cost prohibitive. There’s substantial capital involved in getting projects off the ground.”

The sewer project is in two phases. Phase I, including building the wastewater treatment facility and laying pipes from near the Mechanic Falls town line through the town’s business-advantageous Omnibus Tax Incentive Financing District, is fully funded.

Town officials hope to fund Phase II, which would expand sewer coverage to residential King Street and rural parts of town, with $24 million in grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Woodard and Curran engineer Maggie Connolly, who is overseeing the permit and design parts of the sewer project, told selectmen at the meeting that, “When we applied, we didn’t believe the town, without funds and grants, could go and get the financing (to expand the sewer) for rural areas.”

Delamater was one of a handful of residents, including Joe Casalinova, head of the Casalinova Development Group, who attended a public hearing over the town’s funding application.

In March 2013, Casalinova was part of a group of investors that announced a 550-acre “master plan” that included a hotel, family-style restaurant and retail shopping area across from the Oxford Casino, the town’s largest employer.

Last month, developers broke ground on a 90-room Hampton Inn hotel, and soon expect to announce the name of the restaurant.

Two weeks ago, Chammings said the USDA rural development funding is necessary to pay the DEP loan; TIF funds captured from the hotel and sewer users fees will be used to pay the construction loan.

Chammings said USDA has remained tight-lipped as to when it will announce funding recipients. Sources working with the town on the application said $650 million had been requested from municipalities, and the federal agency had $125 million to allocate.

“It’s very competitive,” Chammings said.

If Rural Development funding falls through, Phase II may be postponed, Chammings said.

The town will host an informal meeting with property owners affected by the project on Thursday, April 24, at the Town Office.