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Loan: $3,047,000 |
Outline of Need: The Town of Boothbay (TB) and the Town of Boothbay Harbor (BH), which contains Boothbay Center (BC) and East Boothbay (EB), are small coastal tourist communities on the southern aspect of Lincoln County in the south central area of the state. The Towns are approximately half way between Portland (59 miles southwest) and Augusta, the State Capital (57 miles northeast). The nearest military airfield is the Brunswick Naval Air Station, approximately 33 miles northwest. |
The BH Water System (BHWS), the TB, and EB Water District (EBWD) have worked with Rural Development and Maine Rural Water to develop a new water district that encompasses all three entities. The new District has assumed assets and liabilities of the previous separate entities, and they have worked cooperatively to obtain legislative and local approval for this merger. The identified problems that these communities are experiencing are: (1) inadequate water supply during the summer months in the EBWD and (2) low pressure, causing an inadequate water supply to its customers, and potential contamination and fire safety issues in BC and the connecting road to BH (Route 27).
How Rural Development Helped:
To remedy these problems, the project proposes to: (1) consolidate the facilities (EBWD to connect to the BHWS) and (2) construct a new underground 500,000 gallon storage reservoir near BC. This will alleviate the water shortage and will help develop a high service area. In addition, this will provide a means to interconnect with EB. The storage reservoir will provide increased water pressure and potable water capacity in the event of a fire and will also greatly reduce the potential for cross-contamination. The project will improve reliability and provide central control infrastructure of the system. Consolidating will allow both systems to better serve their customers. The combined system will have the capacity to meet the water supply and safety needs of the communities.
The Results:
The primary beneficiaries for this project are the customers of the TB and BH and the very important tourism industry. The need for grant funds for this project is to help reduce the high residential user cost on the system. This project will improve the quality of life for the residents of the area by providing safe drinking water and improving the overall quality and quantity of water for residential use and fire safety of its inhabitants. This is required to remain in compliance with state and federal regulations. The efficiency of the system will be greatly enhanced by energy conservation, system licensing, management, and water delivery.
Pictured, above: (L) The new consolidated Boothbay Region Water District's sign; (C) Michael Aube, State Senator Christopher Hall, and Board Members Harry Pinkham, Marsh Irving, Peter McNelis, Lew Curtis and Roy Crawford; (R) The new consolidated Boothbay Region Water District's office.
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