PARIS – The Paris Utility District is planning to ask the state for a rate increase for the first time in about seven years, utility officials said Thursday. The money would help pay for needed maintenance of the water system.
The approximately 1,000 customers pay about $30 for every 1,200 cubic feet of water that is used per quarter. The last rate increase was in 1998, according to district employee Penny Lowe.
“The utility district has been working on a tight budget,” she said Thursday.
The district must apply to the Maine Public Utilities Commission to raise prices.
Peter Bickford, chairman of Paris Utility District Board of Trustees, said Thursday that the proposed increase has not been determined.
District officials said the lean budget and the contamination of the drinking water system last week are not necessarily related, although the source of the E. coli bacteria has not been discovered. A routine water test last week indicated the presence of the bacteria.
A boil-water order was lifted Wednesday.
The system is being chlorinated.
One theory as to the cause of the contamination is that E. coli, which indicates the presence of fecal matter, was drawn into one of the two town wells on High Street. Excessive pumping, which may have pulled contaminated surface water into the well, was required recently to compensate for a water tower under renovation, district Manager Steve Arnold said last week. A water sample from one well came back positive for bacteria last week, and that well was shut off, he said.
Another theory is that the bacteria got into the reservoir.
Roger Crouse of Maine’s Drinking Water Program said Thursday that there might be a hole in the cover of the 2.5 million-gallon reservoir on East Oxford Road.
“You can see where the membrane disappears and a hole appears to be a likely reason,” Crouse said. He also mentioned that vegetation has grown up around the reservoir, which should be cut back to prevent root systems from creeping into the reservoir’s concrete walls.
Bickford said Thursday that it is hard to tell the condition of the reservoir cover because it is wrinkled. The only way to detect a hole for sure is to hire an inspector to examine it, which the utility district plans to do.
Arnold said Thursday, “There are things we need to do and things that need to be done, things we have prioritized and things we’ve made a list to attack.”
He said the wells will be cleaned, a diver will come to inspect the reservoir, and the utility district will make a decision about whether to refurbish, downsize or discontinue the reservoir. There is another town reservoir that the district can tap, he said.
Bickford, who joined the board three years ago, said that about 12 to 18 months ago, district officials began asking whether the 30-year-old reservoir cover should be replaced. He said a decision was made to first renovate a 30-year-old water tower, a project begun in September and near completion. Then the membrane would be tackled. “Now in hindsight, it should have gone the other way,” he said.
Bickford said the district is in compliance with all state regulations and state officials are advising them on improvements.
Arnold explained that when he took over the district in July, the water system appeared to be functioning well.
Prior to Arnold, John Barlow ran the utility district for about 14 years, officials said. He died in January.
“I think Barlow was a touch conservative” fiscally, but he did his job as a manager. “His recommendation was to increase rates at a small pace. As we look back, it probably wasn’t the best decision to make, but the public was behind that because they didn’t want to see rates go up too quickly.”
District officials don’t want to look back, though. “Let’s just go forward,” Lowe said.
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