Biddeford voters could be asked to approve more than $47 million in municipal bonds to support ongoing sewer separation work and improvements to the city’s parks and recreational facilities.

During their July 15 meeting, city councilors discussed the prospect of an overall spending package intended to address items that would be much more costly if they were to be funded through the regular budget.

According to Acting City Manager Brian Phinney, the city will likely need to spend as much as $100 million over the next decade to continue state-mandated sewer separation projects.

The city is currently under a consent agreement with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The city could face significant state and federal penalties if it fails to fund those sewer projects, Phinney told the council. Potential penalties could run as high as $10,000 per day.

Phinney said that in the near term, the city will need approximately $40 million to address the most pressing sections of the overall sewer separation work that needs to be done, as outlined in the consent agreement with the state.

Several councilors said they are concerned that voters might reject the bond because of its hefty price tag.

“We’re in this situation because prior
councils – if you go back decades –
didn’t make those investments.”

— Liam LaFountain

One option that many councilors seemed to favor was to break the $40 million into four separate bond questions or the ability to stagger the withdrawal of bond funds from their designated accounts.

According to Councilor William Emhiser, the impact of a $40 million bond would be approximately $350 per year for the average homeowner, based on an average $382,000 home.

Mayor Marty Grohman pointed out that current interest rates are running between 5.5 and six percent.

“It’s not fun to spend money on these types of projects,” said Council President Liam LaFountain. “But we really don’t have a choice. We have to do these projects. It’s the responsible thing to do, and we’re in this situation because prior councils – if you go back decades – didn’t make those investments.”

Most councilors agreed that a voter education effort will be critical in order to get the bonds approved at the Nov. 4 municipal election.

In a later discussion, LaFountain raised the idea of another bond package to support long overdue improvements and upgrades to the city’s recreational facilities, including Mayfield Park, Clifford Park, Rotary Park, Shevenell Park and the J. Richard Martin Community Center.

“It may seem like a lot, and it is,” said Councilor Marc Lessard. “But people ask us for these things, whether it’s a new skatepark or a Splash Pad. Now it’s going to be up to the people to decide if they want to spend the money on these items.

Councilor Doris Ortiz said she liked the idea of doing recreation funding through a bond package.

“I think it’s a good idea because there never seems to be enough funding for these needed items when get to the annual budget process,” she said.

The council is expected to vote at its next meeting scheduled for August 5 on whether to send the bond requests to voters in November.

________

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com

NEVER MISS ANOTHER UPDATE! Subscribe for free today!