Livermore Falls voters will be asked Nov. 13 if they would pay for a proposed $2.35 million sewer line replacement and relining project along a stretch of state Route 17, and split the cost between taxpayers and sewer users.

The special town meeting to vote on the matter will be held at 6 p.m. at the tentative location of the Town Office. A week before that, a public hearing on the issue will he held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Town Office.

The issue has come to a head because of the condition of the sewer lines and an upcoming Maine Department of Transportation project on the roadway above the lines.

MDOT plans a $15 million project to reconstruct a 1.1-mile section of road in 2026 starting at Shuy Corner, at the intersection of state routes 17 and 133, where the two merge for a short distance.

Video recordings of the interior of the sewer lines under the roadway show there are some 300-foot sections of the sewer main with as many as eight broken sections where the clay pipe was missing in part, with dirt visible, according to Mark Holt, sewer superintendent. Pipe collapse and failure is imminent. 

If the sewer project funding is approved by voters, the project will reconstruct 1.1 miles of road and complete sewer work going up Depot Street to the intersection of High and Sewall streets and up Church Street to approximately Finley Funeral Home, Holt said. 

Sewer lines and mains will be relined or replaced. About 30 sewer manhole structures will be reconditioned or replaced on a case-by-case basis. About 85 sewer service lines will be replaced, he said.

Historically, sewer users have funded all the sewer services, including the wastewater treatment plant and its upgrades. 

However, in this case, taxpayers — sewer users and nonusers alike — “are being asked to pay a small portion of the loan for the infrastructure upgrade,” Town Manager Carrie Castonguay wrote in an email. 

This will be the only instance where general taxation will be sought. All other bonds for sewer and sewer treatment are the sole responsibility of the sewer users, she said. 

The loan on the proposed $2.35 million bond would be over 30 years at an estimated 4% interest, with an estimated annual payment of $82,000.

Under the proposal, sewer users alone will pay for 60% of the project costs through sewer fees, while all taxpayers will pick up the remaining 40% through property taxation.

A property with the townwide average valuation of $210,099 can expect to be assessed an estimated additional $18.72 per year through taxation.

A property valued at $100,000 would see an additional $8.91, while a property valued at $150,000 would see a  $13.37 increase, she said.

Holt said the project may get as much as $1 million in principal forgiveness on the loan. Grant funding may reduce the cost even lower, though details won’t be known until after the November vote.

Holt said voters can decide to do the project now, or wait and do it without taking advantage of the state upgrading the roadway at the same time.

“Whether or not we decide to do this project in conjunction with the (Maine) DOT’s project, Livermore Falls will likely still be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace sewer mains along this corridor in the near future, and likely without any principal forgiveness or grant funding,” Holt wrote.

According to Dale Doughty, acting MDOT commissioner, “Conducting the Route 17 highway improvements without the underlying utility investments would not be beneficial to the community nor to MaineDOT. Utilities in the highway right of way are the responsibility of the utility district — in this case the town of Livermore Falls.

“If the utility chooses not to upgrade their system during construction, they would be required to move service lines and conduct repairs as needed, which would likely cost more than the proposed upgrade,” Doughty said. “MaineDOT has been working with the town on this project for more than five years and hopes to move forward with the proposed investments.”