FARMINGTON – Since the plan to bring natural gas to the area has stalled indefinitely, selectmen now want the Maine Department of Transportation to move ahead with the Wilton Road repaving project.
MDOT had scheduled repaving the Wilton Road, which has shown signs of deterioration, particularly in the section between Center Bridge and Hannaford, for next year and into 2016.
At the same time, Summit Natural Gas of Maine, a subsidiary of Summit Utilities, Inc., expressed an interest in expanding a natural gas pipeline along the Wilton Road to connect to the terminal at the Verso Paper Mill in Jay with major potential customers such as Franklin Memorial Hospital and University of Maine at Farmington. Proponents of the plan noted smaller businesses would also be able to benefit from the significant savings in using natural gas with hook ups along the line.
In August, selectmen asked MDOT to delay the repaving project to accommodate the construction of a natural gas pipeline.
But that suffered a setback earlier this month when university officials were notified by Summit Natural Gas that the company was unable to commit to providing service to the campus by 2016. Summit’s withdrawal from that agreement left UMF seeking alternate energy solutions for its buildings and the backers of the project disappointed.
“Let’s fix the road,” said Selectman Michael Fogg at Tuesday night’s meeting. Selectmen voted 3-0 to rescind their request to hold off the repaving project.
In other matters, selectmen approved having a study on the storm drain outfall replacement off Front Street be completed by Dirigo Engineering of Fairfield for $21,500.
The storm drain, which runs from an area along the south side of the old rail bed and along the perimeter of Prescott Field’s north side, is failing and can no longer handle the runoff, said Town Manager Richard Davis. Recently a sink hole emerged in the middle of Front Street due to the failing pipeline’s back-up overflow.
Dirigo proposed three options for replacing the old pipeline, with selectmen choosing to relocate and install a larger diameter pipe to handle the outfall. The discharge area would change to an area north of the old rail bed and go directly into a shallow pool of the Sandy River. The discharge area now is closer to the popular beach area of the river.
The alternate route was preferred because the existing pipeline runs further and would cost more to replace and its pitch is too flat for a slower-than-desired discharge capacity.
A preliminary cost estimate is $260,950, according to Dirigo’s engineers. The cost includes using 48-inch smooth pipe for speedier discharge rather than the 30-inch ribbed piping that reaches 1,500 feet in use now. The change in the discharge area will need Maine Department of Environmental Protection permitting and because of the potential impact on Atlantic salmon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife will need to review the plans.
Voters at the annual town meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday, March 23 will be asked to fund the project using the town’s unassigned fund balance.
In approving Dirigo to engineer the project, selectmen decided to not go through a bidding process, as has been a policy of the board when projects go over $5,000. Selectman Joshua Bell brought up the question, but noted the engineering budget proposed by Dirigo was now public knowledge so a fair bidding process would be difficult.
Davis noted that Dirigo had originally designed the drainage system 2006 and already had cost estimates for the area to be replaced.
“It was a continuation of work they had already completed. I just asked for an updated cost estimate. They came up with an alternate route and engineering, which included the cost estimate,” Davis said.
“In light of that, that this is just an update on the costs,” Bell said and recommended they go ahead with Dirigo. Selectmen unanimously voted to have Dirigo do the engineering work, noting the firm’s familiarity with the drainage system work.
Ah YES!!! THE infamous salmon thingy again,,
So as not to disturb the salmon(that aren’t even there),let’s catch all the drainoff ,,,process any and all impurities out of it,,,,,then truck it to the coast where it will be put on a tanker, which will take it far out to sea to be slowly time discharged into the deep blue.
Dump it in river,,where gravity would take it.
Salmon Scamon,,,
What really needs to be fixed/repaved is the Main street of Wilton, it is deplorable, as is the Wilton Road from East Wilton through Main street of Wilton…why would you consider anything else ?