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Funding Approved for Town Center Project

At a town meeting on Feb. 23, Westbrook residents approved the appropriation of over $30,000 in American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) money for a conceptual plan for a wastewater system in Westbrook’s downtown.

Ask anyone in Westbrook to name their biggest concerns about the town, and it won’t take long for them to bring up the town center. One of the substantial issues with the town center is the need for an adequate wastewater system. Now, a solution may be a bit closer.

At the town meeting, residents approved the use of $31,100 for a conceptual wastewater system design. Westbrook Town Planner Peter Gillespie said that Jacobson Engineering will do the work.

“The plan will provide a conceptual layout of what we could do and provide cost estimates for what that work would cost,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie said there have been several studies done on the town center over the course of many years that the new plan could draw from.

“Basically, this plan would pull together all the previous reports in one area,” said Gillespie.

Gillespie said there is no timetable for the work to be done since there had been no meetings before the money could be approved. Gillespie said the Board of Selectmen, Town Center Revitalization Committee, and the Water Pollution Control Authority would work together on the project, adding that public input would be a part of the plan.

“We want public buy-in on this, so there will be community involvement,” said Gillespie. “The goal of this is to come out with a better understanding of what we need to do.”

Working to revitalize the town center is not a new project for the town. The town center revitalization committee was first formed in 1997, and a 1998 report listed sewage disposal as a concern for the area.

Over the years, residents have reported that perspective businesses have decided to open elsewhere due to the constraints the lack of an adequate system places on the center.

“Revitalizing the town center is probably the number one project they tasked me with when I was hired, and wastewater is the biggest issue with revitalizing the town center,” Gillespie said.