RUMFORD — The signing of a proposed agreement between Poland Spring Water Co. and the Rumford Water District may happen as soon as Tuesday.

The annual meeting of the Rumford Water District board of trustees will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the district office at 25 Spruce St.

On the agenda, following the annual election of officers, is an article to discuss the Poland Spring agreement. Trustees will then make a motion to take action on the proposed 15-year agreement with Poland Spring Water Co. for up to 150 million gallons per year.

Highlights of the draft agreement with Nestle Waters North America are as follows:

* Water purchase: At the current district large customer water rates, Poland Spring’s estimated 100 to 150 million gallons per year would result in the company paying between $200,000 to $300,000 per year to the district.

* Lease: Wells and equipment used to extract spring water will be paid for by Poland Spring, owned by the district, and leased back to Poland Spring at $12,000 per month ($144,000 per year).

* Terms of the agreement: Fifteen years with five additional renewal terms of five years each; guaranteed minimum payment for first three years; and district can terminate the agreement after 10 years if Poland Spring does not fulfill its obligations under the Community Benefits Agreement (i.e., $1 million investment fund) or the Evaluation Agreement (i.e., $100,000 for aquifer exploration and $175,000 impact fee to the district).

* Infrastructure: Poland Spring will provide $160,000 for redundancy between the Milligan and Scotties Brook wells.

* Community benefits for Rumford: Current proposed community benefits by NWNA—Creating Shared Values investment of $250,000 per year over the first four years of water extraction in Rumford to create an investment fund of $1 million. Additionally, NWNA would provide $50,000 per year in each of the first four years to provide Rumford money for projects now; and additional community benefits are $20,000 per year payment in lieu of taxes throughout the term of the water supply agreement. NWNA estimates the loading station will produce $20,000 to $30,000 per year in property taxes.

* Pathway to a bottling plant: Allow for sufficient time to gather long-term data on reliability of the water source, and allow for time to find two additional sources of spring water that could, in addition to the Ellis River aquifer, support a bottling plant in Rumford.

NWNA has agreed to meet four times a year with the town and the district to provide updates.

NWNA has agreed to expend $100,000 to find additional spring water sources in the Rumford area over the course of at least three years. NWNA has agreed to pay the district $175,000 for an evaluation impact fee.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

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