WEST PARIS — About two dozen residents attended the West Paris Water District’s public hearing at Ring-McKeen American Legion Thursday to learn and sound off about the utility’s proposed rate increase, which would be implemented later this year.

WPWD, which going back at least five years has neglected its infrastructure maintenance and relied on a meter and billing procedure as leaky as the district’s water reservoir, has now proposed a 75% rate increase. 

The minimum quarterly fee will increase from $87.47 to $153.07 per quarter, which will increase WPWD’s 2026 annual revenue from $151,678 to $274,881.

The hike applies to both the minimum charge and usage rates for residential and commercial customers. Its largest customer is the town of West Paris, including properties and fire hydrants.

West Paris’ annual water expense is projected to jump from $43,500 to $88,907, a cost that will impact all property owners’ taxes starting next year.

More revenue is necessary to catch up on its own delinquent bills (it is in arrears to Central Maine Power by thousands of dollars and its average monthly electricity bill is $1,400), hire a superintendent and laborer to get ahead of long deferred maintenance and repairs, continue investing in capital improvements and comply with state regulations.

WPWD’s three trustees, Chairman David Walton, Secretary Judy Boutlier and Janet Hebert, came before residents, with Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) Executive Director Kirsten Hebert and Rural Community Assistance Partnership Solutions Community Specialist David Tortora.

Peter Gautreau, a water circuit rider with MRWA, was also in attendance to answer questions specific to issues with the district’s reservoir and the process to eventually replace it.

MRWA has provided assistance to WPWD since a boil water order was placed on drinking water between April and August of 2024. Earlier this year, the association stepped in to take on WPWD’s accounting, billing and customer service functions when the district’s previous office clerk, Clairluz Perez Lisboa, resigned.

Last month MRWA took over WPWD’s operations management when Gray Water District Superintendent Bill Gardner, who had been hired as a part-time interim operator last year, stepped down. 

In Gardner’s place, MRWA has contracted with Gilbert Ross of the Norway Water District to provide those services.

WPWD’s and MRWA’s service agreement will be in place for the next two years. MRWA provides similar services for nine other Maine community water districts, including Andover in Oxford and Alfred in York counties.

Tortora’s role with WPWD has been to assess its expenses and revenues and create a projected budget that incorporates new rates. The last rate increase was instituted seven years ago.

The utility has operated in the red for years. MRWA estimates that 80 of West Paris’ 220 customer meters are non-functioning. In addition, other than quarterly billing there has been little to no effort to shut off service or initiate payment plans for delinquent accounts.

Walton informed attendees that new, approved meters will be installed at the 80 locations starting July 28. These meters will be remotely readable, mitigating the need for entry into residences, and also have detection capabilities for alerts if water lines begin to freeze or leak.

Many people at the meeting spoke of specific past and current issues with their service, including heavy chlorine odor and taste, customer service complaints and missing test reports.

Hebert noted names and addresses of problem accounts and requested anyone experiencing issues with their service reach out to her personally so she can have them addressed and resolved.

Increasing rates this year will help address issues that have plagued WPWD’s descent into insolvency in recent years.

Residents also learned that the need to replace the utility’s degraded reservoir in 2027 will mean rates will increase again within two years.

Some people pushed back on the need to implement such a steep rate hike all at once and suggested the utility try to rehabilitate its reservoir rather than replace it.

Gautreau explained that the tears of the reservoir’s cover have been repaired, but that those underwater cannot be safely done. The tank, which dates back to the 1970s, was poorly designed and does not meet current safe drinking water standards.

Hebert added that in order to comply with a consent agreement put in place after E. coli contamination was found last year, the district is obligated to replace the reservoir. As long as WPWD abides by and follows the consent agreement requirements, it will qualify for grants and loans to help fund a new tank. Otherwise there will be no state or federal assistance available.

The district expects to hire an engineering firm to survey and design the new storage tank by next week. Despite several people asking what the overall cost of it will be, Hebert said it cannot be determined until engineers are able to complete their development work on the project.

Customers have the right to request information relating to current and proposed rates, which is available at the West Paris Town office at 25 Kingsbury Street. They may contact the Maine Public Utilities Commission at 207-287-3831, 18 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333 or Maine’s Public Advocate at 207-624-3687, 112 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333 with questions and comments. 

Maine’s PUC and Public Advocate will accept public comments between August 3-23. Walton said that the proposed effective date for new rates is Sept. 1.

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