WINDHAM – Several staff members and trustees of the Portland Water District met with the Windham Town Council Tuesday night to discuss how the town could press ahead with the construction of a sewer system should it decide to do so.
The meeting didn’t address costs of the sewer project or anything specific concerning which parts of town would be connected. The meeting helped to “get everyone on the same page,” as Trustee President William Lunt described it.
“We’re not here advocating taking on sewer, not at all. We’re here to say, whatever you want to do, we’ll work with you to get it done,” Lunt said.
At a cost of $25,000, the town hired the Woodard & Curran engineering firm in March to usher the council through the initial phases of the project, including brainstorming the various options the town can employ regarding wastewater removal.
According to Council Chairman Bill Tracy, the Portland Water District is a key player in whatever option the town pursues because of current arrangements and historical ties the town has to the district regarding wastewater conveyance.
While the town could create its own sanitation department to govern wastewater, Tracy said the more likely scenario is that the town would ultimately choose its own sewer design but that the Portland Water District would operate it, as is done in many other communities.
“They need to be involved because they’re the ones who will essentially operate it at the end of the day, unless we petition the Legislature to separate ourselves from the water district,” he said. “Any sewer work that happens in Windham can be done by the municipality. But, at the end of the day, the project is handed over to the water district for implementation.”
Though Tracy said it’s much too early to know in which direction the project is headed, he said Woodard & Curran is set to present a list of options for wastewater conveyance by July 1.
“That’s when we want to see the conceptual design. Conceptually, what you’re going to have is, alright, is it going to be a localized system or is it going to be a system that goes into Westbrook, and where those major collection points might lie,” Tracy said.
While a pipe linking Windham and Westbrook via River Road is one of the options, Tracy said it’s not a likely conduit. The three more viable options for tying a Windham sewer system into Westbrook would use Route 302 or South Windham/Little Falls or Methodist Road. But they would all end at the same place: the Westbrook treatment plant on East Bridge Street.
“We’ve been working pretty aggressively to move forward. We’ve had meetings with district staff and town staff to identify alternatives, identify opportunities for connections to Westbrook and different routes,” said engineering consultant Barry Sheff, Woodard & Curran’s senior vice president.
If Windham doesn’t choose to feed into the Portland Water District’s treatment facility in Westbrook, Sheff said the town would still have multiple options when it comes to a locally owned and operated treatment facility. Sheff said there would be fewer upfront costs associated with a town-run sanitary department, but long-term costs could run higher than if the town worked with the Portland Water District due to staff and maintenance costs.
If Windham pursued the option of creating its own wastewater treatment plant, sewer pipes could lead to one centralized treatment plant or to many smaller sites which would be built around town (either above or below ground) to treat the wastewater, Sheff said.
Sheff also distributed a questionnaire to councilors and the public who attended Tuesday night’s meeting. In it, the public is asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 7 what it considers the most important criteria regarding the proposed sewer system. The public can download a copy of the Sewer Alternatives Evaluation Criteria form off of the Town of Windham website. The survey is included in the online council packet from the April 20 meeting.
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