Hermon eyes grants to extend water service

HERMON – When it comes to some federal and state economic development grants, the Town of Hermon may be considered too prosperous.

Town councilors have made expanding water and sewer service along Route 2 a goal for the next five years and were told Thursday that as much as $500,000 in Community Development Block Grants could be available to assist them.

The only problem is that at least 51 percent of those living along the affected area would have to be low to moderate income and Ron Harriman, the town’s economic development director, said census information suggested that income levels were too high.

But the town isn’t giving up on the potentially available federal funds that are funneled through state block grants. Councilors authorized Harriman Thursday to apply for a $10,000 block grant that would be used to do an assessment along Route 2 to determine whether Hermon would qualify for the larger grant. The assessment grant, should it be approved by the state, would require the town to put up $2,500, or a quarter of the grant’s amount, which councilors approved doing.

Most Hermon residents are on their own water well systems, although the town has installed water systems from the Bangor town line to Northern Maine Junction and along the Odlin Road.

Extending it down Route 2 to the Billings Road would not only help to attract more businesses but with the addition of sidewalks could help create a greater sense of community.

“I think the goal is to make our village more of a village,” Harriman said.

While councilors said Thursday that extending water and sewer systems was a top priority during the next five years, at least one councilor said it should happen sooner.

Town officials said that it would make sense to have any construction work dovetail with the state’s extensive road repairs planned for Route 2 in the next two or three years.

Even more pressing, Councilor Donald Shepley said that earlier this month an underground pipe broke at the Hermon Elementary School, leaving some toilets at the schools unusable. He said that it prompted some children to bring in their own water to drink.

“The red flag is up and we should be working on this post haste,” Shepley said.