Down East Times

The City of Ellsworth is pleased to announce that, thanks to the request and efforts of Senator Angus King and Congressman Jared Golden, $1,774,075 of Congressionally-Directed Spending has been awarded to the City to fund upgrades to the High Street Wastewater Pump Station. Congressman Golden successfully passed funding for the project through the House as part of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill and led efforts to ensure the project was included in the omnibus funding bill passed at the end of last year.

The High Street Pump Station handles wastewater sewer flows from much of High Street and the growing Route 1 and Route 3 commercial corridor, receiving sanitary sewer flow from several of the City’s largest businesses, lodging facilities, housing complexes, medical offices, research and development, and financial institutions. To allow for more growth along this vital economic corridor, located in Ellsworth’s commercial zoning district and growth areas, the pump station is in need of capacity-building upgrades. In addition, these upgrades will ensure increased protection of the City’s waterways, including Card Brook and the Union River, regarded as recreation and tourist destinations for the City, and as a source of livelihood for commercial fisheries. Overall, this project will ensure that the sanitary sewer system can support vital economic growth for the City and the Downeast region.

“The City of Ellsworth is very thankful for the congressional support for our High Street Pump Station project – without it, this critical work would not be possible,” said Glenn Moshier, Ellsworth’s City Manager. “The work will not only help protect the natural resources along Card Brook and increase the City’s resiliency of its vulnerable infrastructure but will continue to stimulate the growth the City is experiencing as an economic engine for the region,” Moshier said. “We very much appreciate the support of Senator King and Congressman Golden for this project.”

Congressman Golden announced in a press release dated December 23, 2022, “Maine’s cities and towns can’t support their families and small businesses without local infrastructure like pump stations, but replacing or repairing these facilities is often prohibitively expensive,” said Congressman Golden. “This investment will help make sure the facility runs smoothly for decades to come, benefitting generations of taxpayers and businesses in Ellsworth and the surrounding area.”

City of Ellsworth staff from the Public Works, Wastewater, Economic Development, and Planning departments are excited to begin work on this project. They are grateful that this significant project will be able to be completed to benefit City residents and businesses without burdening the tax-payer and the wastewater rate payers.

For more information about the project, please reach out to Janna Richards (jrichards@ellsworthmaine.gov, 207-669-6655), Economic Development Director, or Lisa Sekulich (lsekulich@ellsworthmaine.gov, 207-669-6626), Public Works Director.

Original source can be found here