OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The town is seeking federal grant money to help fund what the town manager says are long overdue improvements on aging water, sewer and storm water infrastructure in the Washington Avenue area. 

The Washington Avenue area has some of the oldest municipal infrastructure, with some of the storm and sewer systems more than 100 years old, according to town documents.

A 2016 survey found that more than 50 percent of residents in the neighborhood meet low to moderate income criteria. 

The town is seeking assistance for a project that would target street, sidewalk, curbing, and sewer and storm drain in the Washington Avenue area heading east to 1st Street. As part of the project, Maine Water would replace old, undersized water mains that are inadequately sized for fire protection in a residential neighborhood, according to town officials.

The cost of the proposed project is $1.85 million, said Town Manager Larry Mead. The town is seeking $1 million of federal funds from the Community Development Block Grant program, managed by the State of Maine. Maine Water would pay $350,000 of the proposed project, and the town would pay $500,000, said Mead. 

“This area is long overdue for improvements to the public infrastructure. Every one dollar of local tax funding leverages $3.75 in other funds,” said Mead. “This project will be a boost to the neighborhood as a whole and will create the incentive for property owners to make investments in their own homes.”

A public hearing will be held on the grant application at Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Wright-Pierce Engineering conducted a drainage study for this area and found inadequate storm water infrastructure at the eastern edge of this area, according to town officials.

The town also conducted camera inspections of the sewer and storm water infrastructure and found cracks, breaks and root intrusions as well as damaged and deteriorating manhole structures, said town officials. 

The town has had to address breaks and blockages in sewer lines in this neighborhood on an as-needed basis, including preventative flushing of lines in known problem locations. 

Sewer line back-ups have caused property damage, and poor drainage of storage water often leaves standing water at street intersections and on private property, according to town officials.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.