A couple of years ago, the good Boothbay citizens were all in a swivet over plans to construct a roundabout on Route 27. Today, you can drive through that roundabout. No one seems to mind.

Many say the opposition to the roundabout had to do less with highway intersection design and more about the dreaded “C” word, “change.” If you look around, we are embarking on a series of expensive – seriously expensive – projects that could leave us swimming in change.

The first involves plans to rebuild/renovate the local school plant. Superintendent Robert Kahler wants us to spend some $60 million to replace the high school. For another $29 million, we could have a brand new, more efficient learning space for the kids in the elementary school, he said in a phone interview. He points out that the old high school building is not insulated and the heating plant is outdated. Besides, today’s fast-paced, computer-driven economy demands teachers instruct kids in way more subjects than traditional writing, reading and arithmetic, and that takes space they don’t have.

Opponents point out the high cost for a small number of students. Kahler said he has 338 kids in the elementary and 171 in the high school. In the last five years, he said they have gained an average of 36 new grade school kids and lost an average of 24 high school kids.

Local property taxes fund the schools. The project will cost homeowners somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 a year in new taxes. Alternatives, and there are many, like consolidation with Wiscasset, have been suggested, but no solid proposals are under discussion.

School officials are scheduled to explain the various proposals in a series of public meetings, including a pair (at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.) on Oct. 17 at the Harbor Theater. “I know what 30 residents want to do. I do not know the feelings of the rest. We want the community to tell us what they want us to do. Please come to the meetings. Listen, ask questions, and vote,” said Kahler.

In any event, it will be up to the taxpayers to decide on Nov. 7.

Like the TV pitchmen say while plugging handy dandy, whizz-bang devices guaranteed to make your life easy and beautiful, “Wait, there is more.” As our nation, and I guess the world, faces climate change, Boothbay Harbor Sewer District faces an immediate and very expensive problem. The sewage treatment plant sits on the shore. Last winter’s major tidal surges, which damaged some harbor waterfront properties, came within six inches of flooding the plant. Chris Higgins, the retiring superintendent, puts it bluntly: “We have to build a seawall.”

In 2017, they spent $25,000 for a study to determine future needs. “It showed we were going to have flooding. We have to protect the plant or move it,” he said.
What about moving the plant? He laughs when asked about the cost of relocating the plant. And he asks where would we build it.

So, he is planning to build a seawall. The projected cost? It will be in the neighborhood of $8.6 million, not including $1 million needed to relocate power lines. Higgins said they must have the money in the bank before they fire up the excavators. They got $4.03 million from President Biden’s federal American Rescue Plan. Lincoln County pledged $200,000, most likely leftover COVID relief funds. And we are required to match 20% of those funds, he said.

The district asked for another $4.6 million from the feds, and Sen. Angus King put it on his list. “We made the first cut but didn’t make the finals. So we will try again,” said Higgins.

In case you wondered why they are digging up the berm of Route 96 from Hannaford Supermarket to Back Narrows Road, Boothbay Region Water District is burying a 12-inch pipe to upgrade fire protection in the area. It will snake down Back Narrows to the intersection of Beath Road and hook up with the old East Boothbay Water system.

In addition to the water main project, with the feds picking up most of the $3 million tab, the water district has asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission to allow them to hike their overall water rates by 17.69%. Residential and commercial water customers will see their rates go up 19.7%.

Jon Ziegra, the water district general manager, said the proposed rates should raise $638,527 to cover operational costs like chemicals, fuel and labor. Over towards Southport, the Maine DOT is poised to begin a two-year, $20.9 million rebuild of the Townsend Gut swing bridge.

In the words of David Bowie: Ch, ch, ch changes.

This column has been updated from its original posting.