MILLINOCKET – A Bangor construction company will be the general contractor overseeing efforts to build the town a community outdoor pool for about $1.4 million, the Town Council decided Thursday night.

With Councilor Bruce McLean opposing, councilors voted 5-1 to approve naming Sullivan & Merritt Inc. of Bangor to work with South Shore Gunite Pool & Spa Inc., the Chelmsford, Mass., construction company that will build the pool.

The speed with which town officials hope the project will proceed to make its summer 2007 opening deadline might best be illustrated by the project’s groundbreaking: 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, at the town recreation complex near Stearns High School. The public is invited.

Construction will start the next day, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said Friday.

Sullivan & Merritt Inc. will build the bathhouse and handle the site work, electrical, plumbing, pool excavation and paving the project requires, while South Shore will build the pool. Councilors expressed satisfaction that the Bangor firm will hire many local subcontractors, already employs many town residents and would work well with South Shore.

“They have put together a very good package to be general contractor and that will take us all the way home with this project,” Conlogue said Thursday night.

Councilor Scott Gonya said he knew of the firm from seeing it do work for the Katahdin Paper Co. LLC mills in town and East Millinocket. Councilor Matthew Polstein described himself as “more confident than ever that we will get an excellent pool for a fair price.”

The outdoor pool’s conceptual designs combine four racing lanes and a two-board diving area, and also feature a toddler wading area with safety rails, a mushroom fountain that sprays water, sloping sides and depths and a large slide.

Other touches include a gently curved roof with sunroof, a bathhouse with changing rooms and a large grass strip suitable for sunbathing or light outdoor recreation.

Councilor David Cyr, who owns a cement contracting firm, reviewed some cost estimates before declaring himself satisfied.