WEST PARIS — Trustees for the West Paris Water District expect to reach terms for a short-term loan through Androscoggin Savings Bank this week, allowing the utility to contract with RHR Smith and Co. of Buxton to conduct financial audits going back three years.

After operating with little to no oversight since at least 2021, the Water District is in critical need of rate adjustments as a first step toward profitability. In its current state of financial affairs, it can make no progressive moves until it has stabilized its accounting practices.

Even after its audit findings are reported and any fiscal recommendations are implemented, it will likely take two years before a rate case can be conducted.

Tuesday Water District Trustee Chair David Walton, Trustee Treasurer Judy Boutilier and Utility Operator Bill Gardner met with John Simko of Androscoggin Savings as well as the district’s bond attorney, Lee Bragg of Bernstein Shur, to negotiate the terms of a five- to seven-year loan with interest-only payments until the second year.

Trustee Brandon Ballweber did not attend the meeting.

By stretching the loan over several years, the Water District will have the ability to repay for the back audits once it has a stabilized revenue stream.

Last month Androscoggin Savings awarded a capital improvements loan for $111,000 to the Water District to fund critical infrastructure issues Gardner had identified as having failed or at risk for failure.

At its March 6 business meeting Gardner reported to the board he has allocated about $70,000 of those funds toward upgrades, including a variable frequency drive to control pressure placed on the pumping system and mitigate chance for surges caused by water demand to damage the lines, a used service truck, an automated meter reading system, and hydrant replacements, and to pay for contractors and paving for water main repairs done on High Street.

That leaves the district about $40,000 to address additional system repairs as Gardner prepares for the utility’s next recovery phase: an engineering survey to replace its compromised, 60-year-old reservoir. He is also working on a $30,000 grant through the Maine Drinking Water Program to help defray the cost of improvements

It will take years before a new storage facility and pumping system will be built, at a cost estimated at millions of dollars.