WATERVILLE -- The Humane Society Waterville Area will have to install a storm-water filtering system at its new location on Webb Road to meet state standards in order to open for business, officials were told Wednesday.

Dick Willette Sr., president of the society's board of directors, said the new regulations for water quality will cost $50,000-$60,000, money the society does not have.

"It's for bio-ditches to filter the water that comes off the roof and from the parking lot," Willette said Wednesday. "The only thing that sets us back is the financial situation; we don't have $50,000-$60,000 -- we've got to find it somewhere.

"We didn't know about it when we got our permit."

Willette met with representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection at DEP offices in Augusta on Wednesday.

Andrew Fisk, bureau director at the DEP's office of land and water quality, said the joint meeting was called at the request of state Rep. Marilyn Canavan, D-Waterville.

"She wanted to be sure that the local Humane Society, as a non profit, was getting the smallest, easiest storm-water control system as possible," Fisk said Wednesday. "Nobody told them about this during the permit application period."

Fisk said the questions discussed Wednesday included when the new controls should be in place and if the required units can be installed at minimum expense.

"They are in mid-construction," he said. "We want them to finish the building and put down the hot top; they are still fundraising, trying to be responsible."

Fisk said his department also assured Willette that the mixture in the "under-drained" soil filter will be the minimum required for DEP water quality standards and will not have to be changed over time.

Willette said the idea behind the water control system is to filter the storm water run-off into a drainage ditch that runs from the LeFleur Municipal Airport through the Humane Society's property, to Messalonskee Stream.

He said another business, above the shelter site, was already in place before the water-quality standard changed and is exempt from the new DEP rules.

He said there also is some question if the new Humane Society building might be exempt, too. If the combined land used for the building, parking lot and roads covers less than one acre, it will not need the filtering system.

"I feel everything is going to work out A-OK," Willette said.

Willette said the project is otherwise ahead of schedule. They hope to move into the building in March.

The Humane Society is constructing a $1.2 million animal shelter on about 19 acres on Webb Road near Interstate 95. Ground breaking took place in August.

The building will be approximately 13,800 square feet. There will be separate cat and dog isolation areas, which the existing 5,000-square-foot shelter on Drummond Avenue does not have.

The new shelter also will have a large conference room, lobby and office, more storage and an air system.

Humane Society supporters launched a capital campaign two years ago to build the new facility. This summer, the shelter housed 161 cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and rabbits.