Searsport will be getting a new wastewater treatment plant, after voters approved the measure at a special town meeting on Tuesday night.
Twenty-five voters unanimously approved the overall project — for the second time — as well as the last $2.34 million chunk of funding from the United States Department of Agriculture the town needs to pay for it.
The project was previously approved with funding in July 2021. But the cost of the project rose by more than $2 million between the time the voters gave their stamp of approval and a contract with a construction company was finalized in June 2022 as a result of rising construction materials and labor costs, Town Manager James Gillway said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of construction materials rose by 19 percent from November 2021 to 2022. Plus, contractors and workers who do that work are harder to find and more expensive to hire.
“The project is happening a year later because of the increased cost of everything, really,” Gillway said.
Searsport now has the final green light to replace its 35-year-old wastewater treatment plant, which is in disrepair, Gillway said. The plant will use a new, more environmentally friendly system that treats sewage with a biological breakdown instead of using chemicals.
Construction won’t start until this spring because the contractor needs to wait for warmer weather to start doing the work. Gillway anticipates the project should wrap up in the summer of 2023 because it will need two full seasons of warm weather to complete.
