WINDHAM – Due to ongoing pollution issues and the likelihood that North Windham could become more heavily populated, the Windham Town Council is weighing alternatives for a sewer project that was rejected by a strong majority of Windham voters last November.

At their Sept. 24 meeting, councilors designated a new geographical area for installation of a sewer system in North Windham that would fit within the scope of the town’s planning goals. They also agreed to form an ad hoc committee to research the feasibility of alternative systems that would best handle the pollutants that officials say are seeping into the aquifer that underlies much of North Windham.

The sewer system is not a new subject for the Town Council. The controversial proposal that was rejected last fall would have removed wastewater via underground pipes stretching from the commercial district in North Windham and school complex in Windham Center south along Route 302 to the Portland Water District’s wastewater treatment facility in Westbrook.

At the meeting, councilors briefly heard alternative plans for a less comprehensive wastewater system from the town’s economic development director, Tom Bartell, and assistant planner, Ben Smith. The plans focus on an area of North Windham from Page Road to the Quarry Ridge Business Park, located behind The Ice Cream Dugout. The municipally managed systems could range from clustered septic systems that would handle a few properties to more elaborate systems handling multiple users.

In accordance with the town’s recently adopted 21st Century Downtown Plan, which calls for encouraging residential population growth in North Windham, the councilors agreed this was the area of most concern.

But it’s not just the groundwater in the center of Windham that is of concern; it’s also the areas around lakes and ponds that are densely developed, and where cottages were built years ago, Bartell said.

“With those old cottages on the lakes, it’s my feeling that they need to be looked at seriously now,” said Councilor Kevin Call, in response to Bartell’s observation. “I tend to agree that they have been overlooked. I don’t think there will be any more density, there but it’s problematic already and it’s only going to get worse. It would be my recommendation to look at it.”

Councilor David Nadeau said the sewer system should begin by the Quarry Business Park on Route 302 and expand outward with future economic growth.

“That area hasn’t grown yet, but it has the potential to. It’s got the land … it’s got the soils to deal with a high-grade sewer system. Now look at the sewer system in Lewiston-Auburn. The one they have up there is going to start paying for itself,” Nadeau said.

The town’s next step is to form an ad hoc committee of experts to research the feasibility of a wastewater system in North Windham along the newly identified route. Bartell and Smith said they plan to write a charge for the committee and present it to councilors for approval at a meeting, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

Bartell said he envisions that the committee will study the alternative system designs, with the town’s planning goals in mind, and determine which one would be most feasible for the designated area.

The new route defined by the councilors would be “more compact to North Windham,” Bartell said.

According to Smith, “the area is identified as the growth area for the community and is more limited than what was proposed as part of the referendum last fall. It’s a smaller geographical area [acreage-wise].”

The proposed wastewater system has been touted by Portland engineering firm Woodard & Curran as a solution to potential public health risks related to groundwater pollution in North Windham’s aquifer and would help community and economic development on the North Windham commercial strip.

Monitoring the groundwater in North Windham continues once a year in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, Bartell said. “It goes up and down every year, but the general trend was higher nitrates. There was a handful of [monitoring] wells that showed contamination of concern,” Bartell said.

“The driving factor is two-fold,” said Smith, when asked whether the increasing nitrate levels are the reason for the ongoing pursuit of a sewer system.

“There is a groundwater-quality concern, which is the nitrate levels, and there is also a community development issue associated with the [town’s] plans. Certainly things like adding more residential homes into that area and adding more … pedestrian-friendly amenities,” Smith said.

A more comprehensive system, being proposed by the town planners, is designed to reduce or eliminate contaminated discharge into groundwater, said Smith, though he said it’s too early to comment on a system design or its feasibility.

Windham’s wastewater management includes a collection of traditional and engineered septic systems, initially designed to meet state standards. According to Smith, the independent septic systems are not being monitored to the extent they should be, and many are approaching failure.

“It’s pretty clear that something needs to be done to address wastewater issues,” Smith said. “There is a whole range of options, between what we have [for a system] today and what got voted down last fall, and the committee will be looking at what the options are.”