At least half of Wiscasset’s 18 sewer pump stations could fail at any time, an engineer whose firm studied the town’s sewers, pump stations and plant told residents June 7 in Wiscasset Community Center’s gym. He said the 60-year-old system can probably be upgraded, which he said would cost less than moving the plant. And whatever Maine Department of Environmental Protection determines, the threat of climate change flooding the site could help get outside funds toward a multi-million dollar solution, Bill Olver of Olver Associates said.

He and Town Manager Dennis Simmons cautioned, to be eligible, a system must be adequately funded locally. Proposed rate hikes to up revenue by 46% and smaller, yearly hikes after that are needed to get revenues in line with costs, town officials said. Olver said if the system’s rates are too low, a project would not qualify for funding. 

“There’s a lot of stuff in really bad condition. You’re going to have a catastrophic failure, so the thing to do is fix it, anyway,” Olver said. 

After the night’s public hearing on the proposed rate hikes, the board, in its last meeting before voters decide three of its five seats, took no action; Olver and officials eyed a possible workshop with the next board.

In the hearing, some speakers said a big hike now would not have been needed if a past selectboard had raised rates enough and if smaller, annual hikes had followed. Now, with other costs also rising for homeowners, Pam Logan said, “I know there will be people who will not get their oil tanks filled.”

Simmons and Sewer Department Superintendent Rob Lalli said they support annual increases. They could be based on the consumer price index (CPI), Simmons said. Lalli and documents have described a proposed 46% rate hike, but Lalli said it would really be a 46% revenue hike and not everyone will pay 46% more, Lalli and representatives from Maine Rural Water Association said. The rate for minimum use would rise by about half that, Lalli said. 

Lalli said June 8, the current quarterly rate for zero to 900 cubic feet is proposed to go from $93.60 to $114; for the next 2,700 cubic feet, the quarterly rate is proposed to go from $10.40 to $14.65 per 100 cubic feet; over 2,700 cubic feet is at $9.10 per 100 cubic feet and Lalli said it, too, might increase, but by how much is still to be determined; and those on a monthly rate are proposed to go from paying $31.20 for zero to 300 cubic feet and, for 300 feet-plus, $10.40 per 100 cubic feet, to a new rate of $38 for zero to 300 cubic feet and, for 300 feet-plus, $14.65 per 100 cubic feet.

Also June 7, past selectmen Ed Polewarczyk and Ben Rines Jr. thanked outgoing members for their service. Pam Dunning and Kim Andersson did not seek new terms. And the board presented the town report to the family of past Wiscasset Ambulance Service chief and past interim fire chief Peter Rines, who died in September. The report is dedicated to Rines, Chair Sarah Whitfield announced.

And the board accepted the James Weldon Johnson Observance Task Force’s gift of a bench for the town common. Selectman and task force member Dusty Jones built the bench. The board took no action on Selectman and task force member Terry Heller’s proposal the town buy and plant a white oak she said would replace one the common once had. Residents questioned spending town funds on it without a town vote and, selectmen observed, that could not happen in time for James Weldon Johnson Day June 17, when a noontime ceremony is planned on the common. Johnson died in a car-train crash downtown in 1938, according to state archives.

Some speakers questioned memorializing the poet-civil rights advocate in the town he died in, but did not live in, or questioned memorializing him on the common instead of downtown, nearer the railroad tracks as mulled last year.

Rather than buy a white oak, the town could have one of his, Chris Reed said. Leslie Roberts said a white oak would be too big for the space. She suggested putting a plaque on one of the maples.

Jones said, when people who know who James Weldon Johnson is visit Wiscasset, “I want them to find that we know who James Weldon Johnson is, as well.”

Task force members praised Jones’ work on the bench. He said he consulted fellow woodworkers on the choice of white oak and purple heart wood as long lasting.