Saco has been awarded $3.9 million in federal funds to help pay for a projected $50 million rebuild of the Water Resource Recovery Facility on Front Street. Voters in November supported a referendum question that would see the city bond up to $50 million for the project. The city also pledged to seek grants and other funding to lessen the impact to taxpayers. Andrew Dickinson/City of Saco Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The City of Saco will receive $3.9 million to help make upgrades to the Water Resource Recovery Department and the town of Old Orchard Beach will get $1 million to improve its Wastewater Treatment Facility. The two grants are among six York County allocations and 92 statewide announced by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on March 11.
Saco voters in November 2021 approved a bond of up to $50 million to rebuild the current Water Resource Recovery Department facility, and the Mayor and City Council pledged to seek grants and other funding to reduce the cost to taxpayers. The Saco WRRD is located within two feet of the tidally influenced Saco River. The congressional allocation is to help address climate mitigation and improve resiliency from severe floods and weather events, improving reliability and increasing treatment capability and capacity to meet Saco’s anticipated growth demands, King said.
The $1 million awarded to Old Orchard Beach Wastewater Treatment Facility will help the town improve aging infrastructure that no longer can support current uses long-term or future growth. King said the funding supports the first phase of a treatment facility and collection system upgrades project, to help meet mandated environmental goals and reduce pollution.
King announced the 92 projects, included in his Congressionally Directed Spending requests, will be receiving $136 million through the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2022 budget that passed by a vote of 68-31. Authorized in 2021 on a bipartisan basis, CDS funding reflects funding priorities advanced by lawmakers closest to the projects and initiatives, and is included in annual federal appropriations legislation to provide a specific amount of discretionary funding to a state, locality, or nonprofit organization for projects with demonstrated civic and community value, King said in a news release.
Other York County allocations include:
• $700,000 to the Eastern Trail Management District, to support the engineering design of an 11-mile section of planned multi-use recreation trail and active transportation corridor between Kennebunk, Wells and North Berwick;
• $325,000 to York County Shelter Programs, Inc. to buy and rehabilitate a centrally located property in Sanford to serve as a Community Resource Center;
• $155,000 to York Hospital to support substance use disorder prevention activities in York County by implementing programs aligned with Maine’s Opioid Response: 2021 Strategic Action Plan;
• $2.8 million to the Town of Ogunquit to support structural and mechanical improvements to the Perkins Cover Pedestrian Footbridge, a key access point to Perkins Cove. The project also includes reconstruction of the harbormaster’s quarters, which houses a bait shed for commercial fishermen, which is in poor condition.
“These historic investments will go directly to the local governments and nonprofits that have provided economic opportunity, supported civic engagement, and distributed vital public services to the people of Maine,” King said in a statement.
King is accepting preliminary requests for Maine-based Congressional Directed Spending projects for fiscal year 2023. Full information on the CDS application process, eligibility, and FAQs can be found at king.senate.gov/CDS. Interested organizations can also email cdsrequests@king.senate.gov with questions. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m., Thursday, March 31.
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