LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen voted Thursday to appoint two sewer trustees, the town manager and the superintendent of the Sewer Department to a Sewer Project Steering Committee.

Jay will also have officials on the committee to oversee an upgrade to the Livermore Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Livermore Falls Selectmen George Cummings and Rod Heikkinen, as trustees of the Sewer Department, will be on the committee, along with Town Manager Stephen Gould and Sewer Department Superintendent Greg Given.

Selectmen also voted to appoint trustee Sarah Flagg, also a selectman, as an alternate to the committee. 

Selectpersons Tom Goding and Terry Bergeron, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere and Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt will represent Jay. An alternate may be appointed in the future.

Selectpersons also authorized the Livermore Falls representatives to act on the part of the town to keep the upgrade moving forward.

The project is expected to be done in two phases; the first costing about $5.7 million and the second done in 10 to 20 years for an estimated at $5.2 million.

Funding will be obtained by Livermore Falls, with Jay paying its portion of the debt service in conjunction with its normal payment to Livermore Falls for treatment of Jay’s sewage. There is a possibility there would be potential grants from $1.42 million to $2.1 million available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. A loan would also be sought through the agency.

Livermore Falls selectmen voted Thursday to split the cost of the project,  with Livermore Falls paying 50 percent and Jay paying 50 percent. Jay selectpersons had approved the percentage in a special meeting Thursday.

Livermore Falls will continue to own the treatment plant, which can handle 2 million gallons of wastewater a day.

A $5.9 million upgrade in 1998 was split, with Livermore Falls paying 51 percent and Jay the rest. The plant was built in the 1970s.

The cost of operating and maintaining the plant is split based on the amount of sewage treated. The percentage approved this past spring was 37.6 for Livermore Falls and 62.4 for Jay.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net