HOULTON – The local water company is collaborating with the town to apply for grant money for possible construction of a community sewer system near Cary’s Mills. The funding would be used to prevent drinking water contamination.

If the money is secured, construction could begin by the summer of 2005.

“Water is a valuable resource, so we have to protect it,” John Clark, Houlton Water Co. general manager, said on Wednesday. “You are drinking that water.”

The company was first alerted to a problem last summer by the Department of Human Services, which oversees the state’s drinking water program. Clark said that officials were concerned about a collective of septic systems around Cary’s Mills that potentially could threaten the water in McPartland Wells, a major water source.

A group of 10 property owners crowded into a room at the water company on Wednesday evening to hear suggestions from a wastewater disposal options report.

“This report gives us several options for correcting any potential problems,” Clark told the group. “We are concerned about the homes in the Cary’s Mills area, and we want to protect our customers and the water that our customers drink.”

One option that the company is considering is building a community sewer system and connecting the homes to it on one pipe. That, plus constructing a leaching field behind the homes to treat sewage water, would cost $250,000.

“There are many advantages to doing this,” Clark said. “Primarily, it protects the water source and it is not as costly.”

Another option, buying the homes in the area as they come up for sale and tearing them down, was not as favorable.

“That is a costly option, and really not something I think is best,” Clark said at the meeting. “We would need to consider the tax value of the homes and what the owner would want for them. But that also takes those homes off the tax rolls, which is not good for the town.”

Code Enforcement Officer Wade Hanson explained that the town is working with the water company to secure funds for the community sewer system.

“We will be looking for grants to fund this, and we’re asking for your assistance,” Hanson told the group.

Don Bowie, who owns a home and business in the area, was concerned about the overall cost to property owners.

“Three or four of us just got new septic systems put in,” Bowie said. “If you build your system and we voluntarily connect, do we have to pay?”

Clark said that residents who chose that option would simply become customers of the water company.

“Nothing is getting built yet, we don’t have the money,” Clark said. “But if we get some funding, we are going to take a serious look at this.”

“If we lose a water source, it has the potential to effect the whole community,” Hanson said on Wednesday. “It is not only your home, it’s your neighbor’s homes and the stores and restaurants in town. It affects us all.”