One of the first sites talked about years ago for a new Wiscasset wastewater treatment plant might be getting a closer look. Olver Associates and town officials were recommending selectmen Oct. 6 consider making Mason Station the next site to investigate.

As proposed, Mason Station's feasibility for a plant would be studied; and any private property offers would face screening, consideration for a short list and then possible comparison to Mason Station before selectmen recommend a preferred site to voters. 

"(Mason Station) should not yet be called the preferred site. The Town has enough reasons to take a serious look at it, but not enough information to conclude that it is where the new plant should be built," reads the proposed site review and selection plan.

"The immediate job is to determine whether Mason Station is buildable, permittable, and affordable. That work should have a defined scope, a spending limit, and a return date. If the site does not hold up, the Town should be ready to move to other locations without starting the entire process over."

Voters in June took back their November 2024 nod toward moving the plant to public works and public works to the transfer station. 

The proposed plan reads: "Mason Station should now be the primary municipally controlled candidate. A private or other public site may still be considered, but it must be voluntarily available and evaluated under the same standards.

"No site becomes the preferred location merely because it is Town-owned, was studied first, or is the only site presently on the table."

The proposal includes steps to inform and engage the public. Monthly updates on Mason Station's review would be released, the selectboard would hold a workshop with an engineer before deciding whether to keep considering the site; for a preliminary design, there would be "focused sessions on cost and rates, environmental impacts, operations, and property questions instead of one large general meeting." And toward a decision on a preferred site, there would be a "plain language comparison, (response) in writing to major questions" and an explanation of what the decision does and does not authorize.

As proposed, ahead of a town vote, there would be a "neutral voter guide identifying project scope, borrowing ceiling, expected outside funding, estimated rate effects, risks of delay, and the consequences of approval or rejection."

Also Oct. 6, the board was set to consider applying for a $100,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant toward the feasibility study.

The board was also set to look at scheduling a 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14 special town meeting at Wiscasset Community Center to consider spending up to $345,200 in capital reserve toward a match to an Environmental Protection Agency grant for pump station upgrades. 

The board meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the town office. The agenda at wiscasset.gov will carry a Zoom link.

Look for results of the Oct. 6 meeting at wiscassetnewspaper.com and in the Oct. 15 print edition.