An “awful lot” of Wiscasset’s wastewater treatment equipment is decaying, the plant’s superintendent, Robert Lalli, told selectmen March 9. The board looked at $220,000 in proposed capital spending for the department, including replacing a 1994 dump truck. Parts are getting hard to find for the workhorse that takes sludge to disposal in Unity and does other jobs in town, Lalli said.

Replacing it with a used truck could run $60,000 to $90,000, he said. Town Manager Dennis Simmons advised against buying used. “I don’t want somebody else’s headache” the town has to piece together, he said.

Lalli also cited two, 20-plus-year-old waste pumps at the plant. One got $24,000 in repairs two years ago, he said. “But they’re getting old, and they really need to be rebuilt or replaced.” And the plant has three or four 30-year-old blowers, he said. “I just don’t want to wait until something dies before I take appropriate action and either rebuild them or replace them.”

He said he feels the same about the pumps that get the plant’s clean effluent into the Sheepscot River and have never been rebuilt or replaced.

Also in the Zoom budget session, selectmen doubled Simmons’ proposed $10,000 in technology upgrades for emergency medical services. Simmons supported the $20,000 proposal. He said he was conservative due to this year’s spending on an ambulance and stretcher, and has since become less comfortable with the lower figure. 

The board unanimously agreed to put the $1,000,000 in capital spending on the town meeting warrant for voters to consider. Selectmen also nodded much of Simmons’ proposed $6,096,034 town budget, up $229,575, or 3.91% from 2020-21, according to materials the town provided ahead of the session. The board upped the proposed contingency budget by $20,000, to $50,000. Jeff Slack dissented. “I’m not a contingency guy,” he explained. “I think that we could go before the town for most items and ask for the money.”

Slack also dissented on parks and recreation’s proposed $808,891 budget officials said includes $406,780 in anticipated revenue.

Kim Andersson dissented on selectmen’s $27,362 budget. She said if the board did not get paid, it might have more turnover and better represent the town.

At Simmons’ and Selectman Sarah Whitfield’s suggestion, selectmen held off deciding the proposed $123,882 for cemeteries. Simmons told the board there has been “considerable discussion in town” about the ancient cemetery’s fence, planned for removal. He said the matter would be on the board’s Tuesday night, March 16 agenda. “Whatever you decide (then) could ... change this amount,” he said.

Whitfield concurred. She said a letter with “a lot of signatures” is likely coming the town’s way “in support of putting something up after.”

Chair Pam Dunning reiterated she wants to see how the cemetery looks with the fence gone “and live through it with the year to see how the seasons change it,” before deciding what, if anything, to add. As for the anticipated letter, Dunning said, “I understand that, but I think at the end of the day it’s up to the board of selectmen to make those decisions and I think it’s up to us to see what we need to see before we make those decisions, so I’m not going to be rushed into throwing a fence up this week.”

“Oh, I’m not saying that at all,” Whitfield said. “I’m just saying I think there’s a lot more we need to consider before we put this (cemeteries budget) on the ballot.”

“OK,” Dunning said.