$29.7M bond sale proposed State targets critical highway, bridge work

Maine officials are once again asking voters for authorization to issue bonds that would funnel nearly $60 million in state and federal money to transportation and environmental projects.

The referendum question that will be on the June 10 ballot statewide is the third and final round of a package of general obligation bond proposals approved by the Legislature last year. Both of the two previous bond packages passed with broad public support.

The latest proposal would authorize Maine’s treasurer to borrow $29.7 million by issuing general obligation bonds, which are paid off, with interest, over a period not to exceed 10 years. By authorizing the bonds, the state would leverage $29.8 million in federal funds.

The bulk of the money – about $23 million – would be earmarked for transportation projects. Maine’s statewide capital highway and bridge program, which pays for highway reconstruction and bridge rehabilitation or replacement, would receive $10 million from the sale of the bonds.

State transportation officials estimate that, at current funding levels, Maine is facing a $2 billion to $3 billion backlog in road and bridge maintenance projects over the next decade. Last June, voters approved a $131 million transportation bond issue by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

Transportation Commissioner David Cole said the $10 million in the current bond proposal will help the state target some of the most critical projects. But he noted that much of the remaining transportation bonds would finance various mass transit programs, including rail-related projects.

“It’s critical to make investments into our roads and bridges,” Cole said. “But with gas at $4 a gallon, we need to be looking at our capacity to move people or freight in different ways.”

The bond measure includes $6.5 million to improve and expand a maintenance facility in Portland that officials say will be necessary to expand Amtrak’s Downeaster service to Brunswick. Communities along the “Rockland branch,” which would run from Brunswick to Rockland after the Downeaster has been expanded, would also be eligible for $500,000 from the bonds for improvements.

The remaining $6.7 million would be divided among several projects aimed at protecting or cleaning up the environment.

Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife would receive $2 million to upgrade wastewater treatment systems at several of the state’s fish hatcheries.

The facilities have several years to meet stringent Department of Environmental Protection standards governing phosphorus and suspended solid levels in water discharged from the hatcheries. DIF&W officials said the upgrades will allow the department to continue or even expand its fish stocking activities.

However, the money would only cover part of the wastewater treatment upgrades required at hatcheries.

The DEP, meanwhile, would receive $2 million to help clean up various hazardous waste sites, including the Eastern Woolen site in Corinna, the Rolnick site in Brewer and a waste oil site in Presque Isle.

Those funds would leverage $3 million in federal money, DEP spokesman Scott Cowger said.

Money is also earmarked for upgrades to the state’s air quality monitoring equipment, a grant program that helps communities replace malfunctioning septic systems that threaten water supplies and to address problems at now-closed municipal landfills.

Gov. John Baldacci called the referendum “an important opportunity” for Mainers.

“Smart investments pay off now by creating jobs, and they pay off later when we see the lasting economic impact of better roads, improved passenger and freight rail service, increased mass transit and a cleaner environment,” Baldacci said in a statement.

kmiller@bangordailynews.net

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