LIVERMORE FALLS — Sewer trustees here and Jay selectpersons, along with sewer department superintendents, are scheduled to meet Aug. 7 to discuss needed upgrades to the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Wright-Pierce engineers of Topsham will be on hand to explain the needs during the 6:30 p.m. selectmen’s meeting at the Livermore Falls Town Office. 

There will also be discussion on a proposal to obtain federal funding — $5.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and State Revolving Fund — for the upgrade.

There are loan and grant funds available to help offset the cost.

The preliminary upgrade of the plant was estimated at $7.7 million, with the total cost of the upgrade possibly reaching $10 million, including engineering work and required permits.

Greg Given, superintendent of the Livermore Falls Sewer Department, and Mark Holt, superintendent of the Jay Sewer Department, worked with engineers to reduce the cost. 

The plant, which was built in the 1970s, underwent a $5.8 million upgrade in 1998. However, not everything was upgraded at the plant built in the 1970s. Some of the concrete at the plant is approaching 50 years old. 

The cost of the 1998 upgrade was split, with Livermore Falls paying 51 percent and Jay 49 percent, Jay Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt said in 2008.

Jay and Livermore Falls share the operation and maintenance costs of the plant on annual basis. Those costs are based on sewage flow from each town.  The sewage flow percentage rate approved this past spring was 37.6 percent for Livermore Falls  62.4 percent for Jay.

The plant has a capacity of handling 2 million gallons of wastewater a day. 

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

A primary clarifier at the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant needs to be replaced, and is one of several upgrades needed. Livermore Falls and Jay officials will discuss needs, and potential funding of $5.8 million for the upgrade, at a meeting Aug. 7 at the Livermore Falls Town Office. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (Sun Journal File Photo)