Mount Desert awards contracts for sewer upgrades

MOUNT DESERT – After years of debate and delay, selectmen Monday awarded two contracts for the town’s sewer reconstruction project totaling almost $5 million.

Another $1 million will be spent on design and construction oversight expenses and other administrative costs, Town Manager Michael MacDonald said Tuesday.

Harold MacQuinn Inc. of Bar Harbor was awarded a $1.9 million contract to close down the Otter Creek village sewer plant and construct about 13,000 feet of forced main pipe to carry the waste water from Otter Creek to neighboring Seal Harbor.

Apex Construction of Chocorua, N.H., was awarded a contract for $3 million to rebuild the Seal Harbor plant to accommodate both villages.

Also during Monday’s meeting, selectmen voted to place a separate article on the spring town meeting warrant seeking approval for the proposed Rural Wastewater Support Program.

Under the plan, which would add $177,000 a year to the town budget, year-round residents who own their own private septic systems would receive an annual stipend of about $500 to cover the cost of replacement and maintenance of their private systems.

The town now includes all sewer costs in the general fund budget, which means people who don’t have access to the municipal service still must pay for them through property tax.

The program was developed by an ad hoc committee appointed by selectmen. Seasonal residents, who own 60 percent of the property value in Mount Desert, would not be eligible for the program.

Selectmen approved another separate article that would raise $64,000 for an annuity for former Police Chief John Doyle.

The annuity would provide Doyle with additional retirement payments he thought were due him under an ambiguous 1982 town personnel policy.

According to MacDonald, Doyle asked for the agreement to include a clause saying that if town meeting voters rejected the annuity, he would be free to pursue legal action to get the money.

The new clause also stipulates that the agreed upon amount of $64,000 would be void if legal action is required, according to MacDonald.

The annuity would provide Doyle with a monthly payment of $325 to augment his retirement. The benefit would be paid for the rest of his life, or for at least 10 years should he die within the first decade of his retirement.

Doyle, who is in his mid-50s, worked for the town as a police officer for 25 years, the final 12 as chief. His retirement took effect Aug. 1 of last year.