LIVERMORE FALLS — Sewer Department trustees voted Tuesday to use up to $10,000 from a joint reserve account for the Wastewater Treatment Plant to hire a lawyer to represent both Jay and Livermore Falls to determine how best to the run the sewer departments.

Jay selectpersons will take up the request on Monday.

The sewage from North Jay Wastewater Treatment Facility will be sent to Livermore Falls by the end of the month. Currently, only a portion of Jay’s sewage is treated at Livermore Falls plant. Jay did a sewer conversion project, which is expected to be online in late July, that will have the sewage from North Jay being sent to a collection system near the Jay Plaza then on to Livermore Falls. Jay will then eliminate use of its treatment facility.

Currently operation and maintenance of the Livermore Falls plant is based on sewage flow from each town. The formula this year has Jay paying 58.2% and Livermore Falls, 41.8%.

This is in the exploratory stage to determine how the sewer departments will work since both Jay and Livermore Falls have sewer superintendents and employees, Sewer Trustee Heather Bronish said. Bronish is also a selectman but when dealing with sewer issues, the board acts as trustees.

Livermore Falls owns the treatment plant. It is scheduled to undergo nearly a $9.5 million upgrade with Jay and Livermore Falls each paying 50% of it.

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Nearly $5 million of the upgrade will be paid for through loans and the rest by grants.

In other business, selectmen voted not to let organizers of the Apple Pumpkin Festival to use the town’s Recreation Field this year. The festival is normally held the last Saturday in September.

The decision was based on several considerations, including COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, required social distancing and the majority of fairs in the state being canceled this year.

The crowd was elbow-to-elbow last year, Select Board Chairman Rodney Heikkinen said. He didn’t know how social distancing would be done, he said.

Bronish said if organizers had presented a plan on how they would handle it, she would have been willing to listen.

If the town allows the festival to be held, more people than last year would come because of events around the state being canceled, Selectman Nixon Ortiz said.


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