Besides being environmentally acceptable, due to residents' concerns, the site for Wiscasset's next sewer plant also needs to be "socially acceptable," a consultant told selectmen and residents June 16. Town Manager Dennis Simmons said the talk was mainly to get new board members Heather Jones and Cassaundra Rose up to speed. It came one week after voters pulled their 2024 nod to moving the plant to public works.

On a question from the treatment plant's superintendent, Rob Lalli, Olver Associates Executive Vice President Mandy Holway said funds already on hand for the project can be tapped for private land if the town finds some to buy for the new plant. "Land is an eligible item" to spend on, she said. 

Simmons noted every property owner asked so far has declined. "But ... if anybody's willing to sell and it's a viable piece of property ... I think we would be willing to have that discussion," he added.

With public works out, Holway said, the next logical step is to look at potential sites and try to assess their costs and benefits. The cost to put the plant off Federal Street is now looking like $51 million; at Mason Station, $64 million. She explained, a project's cost hikes would normally be figured at 5% a year, but the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) and other market factors upped that. "So the current cost is basically like 1.45 times what it was ...," she said. According to epa.gov, BABA, signed into law by President Biden in 2021, calls for federally aided projects to be built with materials produced in the U.S.

According to Simmons and Holway, about $3.5 million of $5 million in Congressionally directed spending is going to a pump station project now out to bid, leaving $1.5 million available; on a state offer, the town has until Sept. 30 to formally agree to borrow $10 million and repay $9 million of it; and the town has until July 10 to tell the state it is interested in $10 million more, none of it forgiven.

Simmons is working with the school department on a date the town could vote on both a school budget offer and the proposed bonds toward the plant move.

Wiscasset Newspaper asked Simmons June 17 about the federal Environmental Protection Agency's announcement that day of $25.5 million in grant funds becoming available for, as the EPA put it, "technical assistance ... to help small, rural, and Tribal communities address wastewater infrastructure challenges to protect human health and comply with the Clean Water Act." Simmons responded, "We are looking into (that). $25.5 million might seem like a lot, but given the sheer number of projects needing funds, it might not go very far. Every little bit helps," he added. 

Also June 16, longtime chair Sarah Whitfield, newly re-elected to the board, nominated Alissa Eason for chair and Eason, unopposed, got it 5-0. Then, Whitfield nominated Pamela Dunning to continue as vice chair; that, too, was unanimous.

Jones, in her first meeting in years as a selectman, floated two ideas. One was to make the new AI ordinance more restrictive; the other, to re-dedicate the town office to Wiscasset's citizens, passed 5-0. A possible indoor plaque was discussed; and plans call for a sign to change from saying "customer entrance" to "public entrance."

The town office was already dedicated in 1968, resident Steve Christiansen said after Jones had proposed dedicating it. Jones pivoted to a re-dedication. She said the fact this is drawing out such a wealth of knowledge only strengthens her interest in the idea that stemmed from talking with fellow residents during her campaign.

As for AI at the office, Jones likened it to "explosive material" with potential offshoots including a loss of work skills.

Dunning said AI has become a part of everything from the internet to software, and avoiding it would burden employees.

Based on the discussion, Eason said for Jones to come up with a "more concrete proposal that addresses your specific concerns, but that doesn't just sound like a prohibition (on) something that is part of society now, for better or worse, and that we don't talk about it in this nebulous way."

The board nodded business licenses for Farm Stand, 156 Gardiner Road; Mad Scientist Brewing-Beer Education, LLC, 15 Acorn Road; Lavender Rose Cleaning Co., 21 Hodge St.; Ravenscrawl Studio and Ravenscrawl: The Rookery, 182 Beechnut Hill Road; The Commons at Morris Farm, 156 Gardiner Road; and Zero Energy Homes, Inc., 518 Gardiner Road; and liquor licenses for Jolie Rogers, LLC, 8 Railroad Ave.; and Panacea, LLC, 100 Main St.