ROCKPORT — Monday evening, Feb. 13, the Rockport Select Board will vote on whether to ask the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection to reallocate $1 million that was awarded to the town through the American Rescue Plan Act for a recently completed Route 1 sewer extension project. The town is hoping that $1 million can instead be put toward a new $18 million water resource recover facility.

Formerly described as a sewage treatment plant, a water resource recover facility represents new terminology and evolving technology.

According to the Water Research Foundation: “In recent decades, the wastewater sector has moved away from the idea of wastewater treatment plants as waste disposal facilities, instead envisioning these plants as water resource recovery facilities. WRRFs can produce clean water, recover nutrients (such as phosphorus and nitrogen), and potentially reduce fossil fuel consumption through the production and use of renewable energy.”

The regularly scheduled meeting begins at 6 p.m. and will be held in the Richardson Room at the Rockport Town Office. The Rockport Opera House and downstairs Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room are undergoing repairs; hence, the meeting’s location change from the normal venue. The meeting will not be streamed live.

On Jan. 30, the Select Board held a workshop concerning the town’s existing sewage treatment situation and ideas for building a new treatment facility that would allow Rockport to disengage from its current dependence on the Camden sewer system.

The favored location for a new new treatment plant, which would handle waste from the Village, the northern end of Route 1, as well as Route 90, is Cramer Park, in Rockport Village. The town-owned park abuts the Goose River near the Goose River Bridge.

According to Town Manager Jon Duke, Rockport learned in August 2021 that it would receive $1 million from ARPA funds to be used for the Route 1 sewer extension. That project extended the line along Route 1 south to tie into the existing sewer line that runs from Rockland to Pen Bay Medical Center. That portion of Rockport’s sewer system transports waste to the Rockland treatment plant.

As it turned out, the project cost was trimmed due to a design change, “that was made to eliminate a significant section of gravity collection sewer on Route 1 where there is no current or anticipated development due to the presence of wetlands....,” wrote Duke, in a premeeting memo to the Select Board.

Because of that, the Route 1 south sewer extension project was finished under budget, and the $1 million in ARPA money was not needed.

“The Maine DEP was approached by the Town about reallocating the funds to the proposed Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF), which is currently in the preliminary planning stages to address the long-range wastewater treatment and disposal needs of the community,” wrote Duke. “The Maine DEP has stated that they would allow a one-time reallocation of the ARPA funds following a formal request from the Town.”

Rockport is actively pursuing other funding sources for the $18 million project.

“Allocating the $1 million Maine DEP ARPA grant to the WRRF project would allow the Town to continue moving forward with preliminary planning, funding, local approval and design efforts without a commitment of local funds,” wrote uke. “Applying the ARPA grant to the WRRF
project also allows the Town to show that matching funds are currently committed to the project, which is a requirement of several of the funding sources we hope to secure for the work.”

As the board learned at the Jann. 30 workshop, the preferred location for a new plant is Cramer Park.

Other sites include the Public Works Garage, the Marriner’s lot on Camden Street, the former Rockport Elementary School (RES) lot on West Street, the Rockport Harbor parking lot, and the Rockport Town Office/Public Safety Building property.

The full agenda for the Feb. 12 meeting follows: