A question regarding the replacement of water mains on Pine and Elm streets and a bond to fund it will be on the ballot in Waldoboro this November.
According to Waldoboro Public Works Director John Daigle, the town’s board of selectmen previously approved the project, which was to be funded through a grant, but the grant fell through.
The project was estimated at $109,100 in 2011, but is now estimated to cost about $170,000, Daigle said.
The project includes relocating the water mains to the public right of way on those streets.
Daigle said public works has about $85,000 set aside to pave Elm and Pine streets and Medomak Terrace if the proposed water main replacement takes place.
The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen approved adding the project to the November ballot at their Aug. 26 meeting.
In a single ballot question, voters will be asked whether to approve the project, appropriate $175,000 to fund it, and to authorize the town treasurer and select board chair to issue securities up to the amount, as well as fix the details of those securities.
The question cites “age and condition” as the reasons behind the water mains’ replacement.
A public hearing on the question has not yet been scheduled.
If the bond is approved, it is planned to be paid off by customers of the Waldoboro Water Department, but the town would have to back it up, according to Town Manager Linda-Jean Briggs.
“If there’s a default for any reason,” she said, “we [the town] would be ultimately responsible.”
Rick Knowlton, the vice president of operations for Maine Water Company, Waldoboro’s water system operator, said a 20 year repayment on the bond could cost the town about $13,000 per year in debt service.
“A typical residential customer in Waldoboro now pays about $315 a year for their water service,” Knowlton said. “By itself, [the debt service] would raise rates by roughly $15 a year for that typical residential bill. A little over a dollar a month.”
Even if the project and bond are approved, however, it would not dictate whether water rates would change or by how much, Knowlton said.
“The rate can only be changed when the town applies for permission to change the rates to the Maine Public Utilities Commission,” Knowlton said.
Waldoboro’s water rates have not been adjusted since 2006, Knowlton said, and he expects the town would likely consider other factors such as changes to operating costs, and consumption patterns as well as the debt service before the selectmen apply for a rate change.
“When they do that, the process will require that they notify all their customers, that there are public hearings and public discussions, and there’s a very well defined process for adjustments to water rates,” with the commission making the final decision, Knowlton said.
According to Briggs, the interest rate for such a bond from the Maine Municipal Bond Bank is 1 percent this year, and from what she recalls the bond bank did not expect much change for next year.
Briggs told selectmen she had been assured by bond council Waldoboro will not have any trouble getting the money for the project if the town approves the measure.
If voters approve it, the replacement and subsequent paving would take place during the construction season of 2015, Briggs said.
