Bangor wastewater director outlines upgrades, SRF loans and a 9% sewer rate increase in budget workshop

Amanda Smith, Bangor’s director of water quality, told councilors at the June 3 budget workshop that the wastewater department — which includes the wastewater treatment plant and the sewer system — is in a transition period driven by consent-decree obligations and aging infrastructure.

Smith said the treatment plant’s design capacity is about 18 million gallons per day and the city treats just under 8 million gallons per day on an average day. The sewer system includes roughly 150 miles of publicly owned sewer pipe, with additional privately owned lines also in service.

The city remains under an EPA consent decree from 2015 that directs work to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs). Smith said the department has completed nearly 90% of the required work since the early 1990s and that the remaining roughly 10% represents the most complex and expensive work, including a Meadow Brook sewer-separation project on Columbia Street meant to reduce outfall activations behind the Pquankus Cap building into the Kascade River.

On capital needs, Smith described several priorities: finishing the plant’s SCADA (controls) upgrades to cover remote sites, advancing an aeration upgrade to improve oxygen controls and lower electricity use, and replacing aging CCTV inspection vans. She said the aeration project has most of the funding in place, but that a November bid returned a sole bidder at $2.8 million compared with an engineering estimate of about $2 million; the FY26 capital budget therefore includes a small supplemental amount to close the gap and $500,000 is listed to move work forward.

Smith emphasized energy savings as a driver: the department spends nearly $1 million a year on electricity and tighter aeration controls would allow staff to reduce power use at times. For inspection work, the department plans to replace two older CCTV vans with one modern, AI-enabled van to cut labor and equipment costs over time.

Regarding financing, Smith said the city applied to the State Revolving Fund and had two projects approved for SRF financing — just over $6 million in financing at an interest rate around 2.8% — for the Perry Road pump station and a Perry Road separation project; she noted SRF financing is a loan (a bond-like financing) rather than a grant.

To help cover capital obligations and reflect financial-capacity considerations the EPA takes into account, the proposed budget includes a 9% sewer rate increase. Smith estimated the increase would raise the average residential sewer bill by approximately $3.84 per month and said the city remains below EPA thresholds tied to median household income. She also described personnel-related budget shifts: restoring a long-vacant position from contracted services back into payroll, budgeting a three-month overlap for an anticipated key retirement to preserve institutional knowledge, and a $22,000 wage adjustment spread across three positions to aid retention.

Councilors asked detailed follow-up questions about residential billing, year-to-year electricity-cost fluctuations and capital carryovers; Smith clarified spreadsheet timing issues on some lines and said staff are renegotiating an electricity contract with the vendor Constellation.

Next steps noted in the workshop: continue negotiations with the EPA on the next five-year consent-decree phase, finalize which capital projects will be frontloaded in FY28–FY31 based on negotiated obligations, and proceed with design and construction phases for the Perry Road and Meadow Brook separation projects.