WEST PARIS — The West Paris Water District plans to increase its rates for the first time in seven years, starting Sept. 1.

A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 24 at at the American Legion Ring-McKeen Post 151 at 6 Church St. Notices will be mailed to customers before July 10.

The minimum quarterly fee will increase from $87.47 to $153.07, a 75% hike.

In its customer notice, the district said residents on average will pay about $22 more each month for water, or about $1.70 per day.

The district has operated under a consent agreement with the Maine Public Utilities Commission since several residents were stricken with E. coli illness and a boil water order issued in April 2024. The order ended in August after tests showed the system was within safety requirements.

In addition, the district has operated in the red for years and accounting audits had not been conducted going back to at least 2021.

With lack of utility revenue and operations oversight, repairs and maintenance went unchecked until last spring when tears in the district’s reservoir cover resulted in E. coli contamination.

Former district operator Wayne Kennedy resigned and Bill Gardner, superintendent of the Gray Water District, was recruited on an interim basis to manage the district and comply with PUC’s consent order.

At that time, Brandon Ballweber was the only active trustee and Clairluz Perez Lisboa was the part-time employee and acting board secretary. Town officials appointed Sonya Tardiff and David Walton as trustees.

With Gardner at the helm, a series of new problems were discovered with the district’s infrastructure and customer service.

About half of the water meters in customers’ homes were not functioning. Many customers’ accounts had been in arrears for years but they never received shut-off notices. At least one customer account balance exceeded $20,000.

At the beginning of this year, the district applied for and received a $111,000 capital improvements loan through Androscoggin Savings Bank and a $30,000 grant through the Maine Drinking Water Program to start replacing its equipment and system failures, conduct its outstanding financial audits and start preparations for constructing a new reservoir eventually.

But after considering the district’s operations challenges, its underperforming revenues and the gravity of its outstanding accounts payable balances, the Public Utilities Commission waived the requirement to submit the last three years of audits with its rate case application.

In March, voters elected David Walton and Judy Boutilier as trustees. Shortly after, Ballweber and Perez Lisboa resigned.

Customer service and accounting were outsourced to Maine Rural Water Association in May.

In June, Judy Hebert was appointed as a trustee and Gardner stepped down as operator.

With no qualified operator to take over, the district agreed to contract with Maine Rural Water Association, which tapped Norway Water District operator Gilbert Ross to fill the void.

The operations agreement calls for Maine Rural Water Association to temporarily waive charging West Paris for the hours Ross spends on the job, allowing it to allocate more of its funds toward outstanding consent agreement requirements such as installing new water meters in customers’ homes and businesses.

During the district’s business meeting June 26, Daphne Paulette, Maine Rural Water Association financial circuit rider and acting treasurer for the district, reported that customer payments and the number of payment plans have jumped since the association took over billin.

She asked that the board assess its accounts payable priorities so she can begin negotiating payment arrangements with vendors.

The board discussed selling the site of the out-of-service distribution well on Pioneer Street.

Other potentially problematic issues were brought to the board’s attention by meeting attendees.

Shane Poland of The Poland Corp. and West Paris Select Board Chairman Eli White expressed concern that the district’s water reservoir has been only half-full and may not have enough to extinguish a building fire.

White asked if the lower level is a result of fewer pumping hours due to being in arrears with Central Maine Power. They admitted they owed the utility company money but did not say whether that was related to the reservoir.

The two also urged the district and Maine Rural Water Association to establish reliable communications and contacts with the Fire Department in the event of emergencies, including water main breaks.

Poland reminded the board and Hebert about imminent road construction and paving projects over water lines.

White also asked that Maine Rural Water Association provide updates on capital projects and expenditures, which Hebert said will be provided after she and Ross complete in-person assessments of the facility and analyze outstanding elements of the consent agreement.