SANFORD — Neither snow nor sleet nor freezing rain kept a group of intrepid Maine legislators from their appointed visits last week.

About 50 state legislators toured Sanford's Wastewater Treatment plant last Thursday, despite weather conditions that resulted in school cancellations and hazardous road conditions throughout the day.

The local treatment plant was one of the visits on the Maine Development Foundation's 2012 "Policy Leaders Academy," an education program for state legislators. The purpose of the three-day academy is to provide legislators with a better understanding of the complexity of Maine's economy and to increase their understanding of the connection between public policy decisions and their impact on the state's economy.

This year legislators attending the Policy Leaders Academy traveled to southern Maine by bus, visiting businesses, higher education facilities and other venues to meet business leaders and to learn more about many aspects of Maine's economy.

On the second day of their tour, the legislators were met in Sanford by Sewerage District Superintendent Michael Hanson and Chief Operator André Brousseau, who gave them a tour of the wastewater treatment plant.

Hanson said he spoke to the group about the importance of the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which provides low-interest loans to wastewater treatment facilities for construction, repairs and improvements to public wastewater systems and treatment facilities. Funding for the revolving loan program is provided through bonding. Bonds approved by the state for the Maine Clean Water Fund are matched five to one by the federal government, Hanson said.

In addition to the Sanford stop, this year's Policy Leaders Academy included visits to Brunswick Landing (formerly the Brunswick Naval Air Station), the University of Southern Maine, the Maine Turnpike Authority, Fairchild Semiconductor, Hussey Seating, the downtowns of Lewiston and Auburn, and the Good Shepherd Food Bank, and other sites over the three days.