KINGFIELD – A $10,000 donation from Poland Spring Bottling Co. to Kingfield was accepted by First Selectman John Dill last month.
But, as shown by letters to the editor in the town’s weekly newspaper, The Original Irregular, and Selectman Heather Moody’s report of a resident publicly calling for Dill’s resignation, some townspeople feel he acted inappropriately by accepting the money in early August without bringing it to town meeting.
The money was given at a time when Poland Spring is considering building a bottling plant in Kingfield. A company spokesman says it was given because Poland Spring trucks are affecting Kingfield as they travel from a pumping station in Pierce Pond Township.
There are state statutes regulating municipal acceptance of monetary donations. Open-ended financial gifts or donations of tangible items must be accepted by voters through a town meeting process. However, if money is donated for items already on the town’s budget, a selectman may accept the gift, said Geoff Herman, director of state and federal relations for the Maine Municipal Association.
“Supplements to existing appropriations can be directly accepted,” he said Wednesday. He said the facts would need to be reviewed to determine if Dill’s acceptance and spending of the money was illegal.
In a letter to the weekly newspaper Wednesday, Dill informed townspeople that the item will be on the warrant for a special town meeting to be held Sept. 8.
It was an oversight’
“Some of the money has already been spent,” he wrote. “This was an oversight on my part.”
Dill was out of town and unavailable for comment Wednesday.
In a letter written to the Irregular last week, Dill said the town had purchased or will be purchasing the following items with the money:
• Power washer for the Public Works Department
• Welder for the Public Works Department
• Blinking yellow warning signal for the Fire Department
• Air compressor for the Fire Department
• Computer and office furniture for a new town assessor
• Typewriter for the Town Office
• Generator for the wastewater department
• New refrigerator and gas stove for Webster Hall
• New tables and chairs for Webster Hall
Being a good neighbor
Kingfield resident Edward Squibb, characterizing the gift as “disingenuous” in a letter in Wednesday’s Irregular, wrote, “A bribe is a bribe is a bribe.”
It was given as part of the company’s “good neighbor” program, said Natural Resources Manager Mark Dubois on Wednesday in response.
“It’s part of our operational plan now,” he said.
The company is considering constructing a bottling plant in the town but is already affecting Kingfield with trucks coming from its Spruce Spring pumping station in Pierce Pond Township, he said. The company has donated more than $550,000 cash and $300,000 in products to various municipalities and organizations throughout the state this year, according to records kept by a public relations consultant for the company.
Moody said the donation “will in no way influence whether or not (Poland Spring) will come into town.”
“There’s never, ever going to be a selectmen’s vote on whether Poland Spring will come in here,” she said. “Procedurally, we didn’t do the right thing. I wouldn’t have turned down the money but we should have taken it to town meeting,” she added.
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