At their regular meeting Oct. 1, Boothbay Harbor Sewer District (BHSD) Trustees reviewed a packed agenda which included expansion of the relining project and changes to the plant heating system.

The Commercial Street relining project has received approval for a $275,000 loan and a $125,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency. The project was to include the relining of approximately 3,600 feet of existing sewer mains on Commercial Street.

When bids were submitted, the BHSD found that they were significantly lower than expected and so discussed the possibility of including additional pipe in the project.

A pre-construction meeting was held on Sept. 23, which included BHSD Superintendent, Chris Higgins, Scott T. Emery of the U.S.D.A.’s Rural Development Agency, Vic Krea, project manager for Wright-Pierce Engineering, and representatives of Green Mountain Pipeline Services, which submitted the winning bid.

Based on discussions at that meeting, it was determined that an additional 4,200 feet of sewer pipe might be included within the funding allocation for the project, as long as the additional pipe is also 8-inch pipe as in the Commercial Street portion of the project. A change order will be submitted to include the additional work and the location of the additional relining effort will be announced at a later date.

Specifications for an upgrade to the plant heating system have been created by Wright-Pierce Engineering and were sent to five vendors for bids, which are due by Oct. 29. A decision as to the vendor will be made at the BHSD meeting on Nov. 15. Work is expected to begin on the heating system on Nov. 17 and it should be operational by Dec. 15.

The BHSD proudly announced that David Pratt, district employee, has graduated from a 12-month management candidate school (MCS) coordinated by a number of state agencies. Pratt participated by attending MCS one day each month from October 2013 to September 2014.

The curriculum included personnel management, supervisory skills, labor relations, budgeting and engineering basics. Those attending MCS are considered to be prepared for advancement in managing a utility.