There was big news at the monthly Wiscasset Water District meeting that was held in Bath this year on Monday, following the annual meeting of the two districts.

The trustees have decided to take a big bite out of their capital improvement plan. The district plans to borrow $625,000 from the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to extend the 12 inch main located at Bradford Street and Route 1 through the length of Churchill Street until it rejoins Route One.

Wiscasset Water District Superintendent Chris Cossette said that this would allow the town to replace an 80-year-old six-inch line, another 80-year-old ten-inch line and a portion of a 25-year-old eight-inch line.

"We had four breaks in the six inch line over the past six years or so, which generally cost the district five to ten thousand dollars each," Cossette said. "It will also improve pressure in the water on those lines."

The town had a system analysis done by Paul Cote of Earthtech in South Portland in 2005.

"Of the six top priorities that were brought to our attention for system improvement, this project was the number one priority," Cossette said.

Cossette said that there are matching federal funds available and they will be working to keep costs low. He also said that the district will be able to coordinate with current state road projects and will be able to deal with many other needs as part of this project.

There will be a meeting on September 27, at the Wiscasset Municipal Building at 6 p.m. to receive public comment and take action on the proposal.

Bath and Wiscasset Water Districts met for their annual meeting at 5:30 pm. This meeting is a requirement of the interlocal agreement signed between the two towns and is designed to make sure that one hand continues to wash the other effectively.