Boothbay Harbor Sewer District Supervisor Chris Higgins and the trustees have employed the assistance of Vic Krea of Wright-Pierce to create a sustainability plan.

Higgins supplied Krea with the district's past five years' budgets, rates, and rate studies he had conducted as well as capital improvements the district will need to fund.

This information will be analyzed items to see what rates will need to be to meet the needs of the district.

At the district's December 19 meeting, the trustees and Higgins were faced with the reality that even with the rate increase the district was not operating at a self-sustaining level.

In order be self-sustaining, rates would have to be $12.75 rather than $7.68 per 100 cubic feet (minimum bills are now $73.67 for 900 cubic feet). The 2013 operational budget of $907,672 was short $11,174, but the actual budget amount the district needs is $1,159,198.

Budgets do not include capital projects included; those are funded out of reserve funds or outside funding opportunities such as Rural Development.

Higgins told the trustees that somehow the district would have to find a way to live within the means of the operational budget amount.

“This is the work we have to do,” Higgins said. “We have to dissect depreciation numbers in there (spreadsheets) and do some what-if scenarios to see what the effect will be on your rate per 100.”

Sidewalk project

Higgins met with Boothbay Town Manager Jim Chaousis after the March 20 meeting to review the district's concerns with the project drawings. Higgins showed Chaousis the areas where sidewalk cross-sections were directly over sewer piping access points. The town manager said he would take the issues to Sebago Technics, project engineers.

Another concern for the district was who the financially responsible party would be when   repair of the sidewalk when it had to be torn up in order to access sewer piping in need of replacement or repair.  The trustees did not believe the responsible party should be the district.

The trustees and Higgins said a separation of three feet between the edge of the curb and the sewer was preferable for access. Higgins said shifting the sidewalk to the east would avoid the issue.

Higgins said Chaousis believed some of the issues had already been addressed. The district would not have been aware of the changes as it did not receive updated drawings. Higgins told the trustees Chaousis had met with the DOT and some latitude had been given to placement.

Higgins said he was waiting for confirmation and further information from Chaousis.