The Bethel Water District will charge the Bethel Regional Chamber of Commerce $2,000 for water needed to construct a 149-foot mountain of ice in January.

District officials say they can only waive fees for charitable or benevolent organizations.

Board Chairman Brent Angevine was clear on this point, emphasizing that a majority of district trustees did not believe it was in “the best interests of the ratepayers to give the water away.”

Jeers to them.

The best interests of the ratepayers match the best interests of the taxpayers and the ice mountain is in the best interests of the taxpayers and, thus, of the ratepayers.

The Bethel Chamber — led by the highly imaginative Robin Zinchuk — has a strong record of bringing visitor dollars to town as people have flocked, over the years, to visit the Chamber’s various oversized winter projects.

In 1999, Bethel entered the Guinness Book of World Records for its 113-foot, 7-inch Angus, King of the Mountain snowman project, all 8 million pounds of him.

In 2008, the Chamber backed the construction of the record-breaking 122-foot, 1-inch Olympia SnowWoman and, last year, despite unseasonably mild temperatures, the 12,000-square-foot colored snow maze was a hit.

This year’s proposed ice mountain is the Chamber’s largest and coldest project yet, and will surely attract visitors who will not just stand and gawk at the thing, but will purchase gas, sandwiches, perhaps a Bethel-logo sweatshirt or two while in town. Some may even spend the night, benefiting local innkeepers.

The water district’s insistence that the Chamber spend its limited resources on water is a short-sighted move by district trustees and does not benefit ratepayers.

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As the exacting and tedious process of recounting votes on Question 1 proceeds under the watchful eye of attentive election officials, the “no” side has steadily been losing votes. So, not only did Question 1 pass on Election Day, it has gained a greater margin of victory since.

Oxford Hills No on 1 asked for the recount and has — so far — been determined to see the process through to the bitter end, which it is legally entitled to do. But, as the mind-numbing and expensive process has unfolded, the “no” side has lost votes. And pushing for continued counting runs contrary to the position of CasinosNo! that it has no intention of beating a dead horse.

Let the beating end now, then, and spare the taxpayers the cost of state troopers driving to every hamlet in Maine to collect ballots, especially since the top five vote-drawing municipalities have been counted and it’s statistically unlikely that there will be a reversal of the result.

On Monday, the continuing count will include Auburn, with about 15,000 ballots, and ballots collected from the most populated towns in Oxford County.

The No on 1 supporters really want to count the Oxford County towns, which were supposed to have been their opposition base, so maybe it’s a good idea to proceed through the end of the day Monday to reassure No on 1 that the results are solid, and that Black Bear Entertainment has most definitely won voter approval to construct a casino in Oxford County.

This horse has been beaten long enough. 

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