PENOBSCOT – Voters at the annual town meeting Tuesday authorized spending $1,000 to design a new in-ground septic system for the elementary school.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has pressured the town for several years to replace the system at the school that includes a licensed overboard discharge into Northern Bay.

The DEP has been working to remove overboard discharge systems around the state, including three in Penobscot that discharge into Northern Bay. In addition to the school’s system, a private residence and the Penobscot Nursing Home also are licensed to discharge into the bay.

The town owns approximately 42 acres behind the elementary school, and last year a site evaluator identified two potential sites on that property as suitable for an in-ground system.

The DEP is obligated to pay half the cost of installing a system, and Selectman Paul Bowen said Wednesday that state funding probably will not be available until 2008 at the earliest.

“They’ve been nattering at us for a long time,” Bowen said. “Our thinking was that if we could get a system designed and ready to go to bid, when the funding is available, we could get started on it.”

Bowen said he anticipated the state will vote on a bond issue for overboard discharges in the fall. If such a bond is approved, the funds would be available next year.

The $1,000 that voters approved Tuesday will be more than enough to cover the cost of the design.

The town also has signed a lease agreement with the nursing home for the use of the other site identified as suitable for a septic system.

In an unscheduled item, Rep. Jim Schatz read a Legislative Sentiment in memory of Arnold “Bing” Gross, the longtime Penobscot selectman who died last summer. Schatz presented the sentiment to Gross’ widow, Betty Gross, and other family members. The sentiment was sponsored by Schatz, state Sen. Richard Rosen, and former state Rep. Stephen Bowen, a Penobscot native.

By a slim margin, voters authorized the selectmen to begin discussions with the town of Brooksville about operating a joint transfer station for the two towns. Penobscot already operates its own transfer station and Brooksville officials approached the town as a possible alternative to continuing to use the Blue Hill-Surry Solid Waste Disposal Facility.

“There were some concerns about expanding that site with Brooksville, and we’ll have to get to the bottom of that,” Bowen said. “There was also some concern about the increased traffic on a road that is not really suitable.”

The selectmen viewed a joint operation as a possible way of saving the town money, he said. Any plan developed from the discussions would have to come back to the town for approval.

Voters also appropriated $10,000 from surplus to establish a town revaluation account. The selectmen anticipate conducting a townwide revaluation within the next year or two.

Voters rejected a request from the Blue Hill Public Library for $3,000, but approved all other items in the municipal budget. The total municipal budget this year is $405,539, a slight increase from the previous year. The budget exceeded the limits set by the formula in LD1, and voters approved that extra expenditure.

There were no contested races in the municipal elections this year.

Residents will meet again Tuesday, March 13, to act on the school budget items on the warrant.