Council approves bill change Park owners responsible for wastewater costs

FORT KENT – The Town Council approved a change in the town’s wastewater billing Monday night that will make the owners of mobile home parks responsible for the bill, instead of owners of individual mobile homes.

The unanimous decision brings the town in line with other communities in Aroostook County. The change was proposed by the town’s legal advisor and supported by an advisory from the Maine Municipal Association.

The change was made after a public hearing attended by 12 mobile home owners and owners of several of the town’s four mobile home parks. While there were questions about the proposed change, no one actually opposed the move.

Instead of issuing 65 wastewater bills to individual mobile home owners, the town will now issue four bills to park owners.

At the present time, the bills are sent to the owner of the mobile home. Mobile home owners will no longer receive bimonthly bills for wastewater, but their land rental fees are expected to increase because of the change.

The problem, as explained by Town Manager Donald Guimond, is that the wastewater ordinance allows liens to be placed against real estate when bills are not paid.

It can be difficult to place liens on mobile homes because they can be easily moved or sold without the sale being registered. Since mobile home owners in parks do not own the land their home sits on, the process can be even more difficult.

In some instances, liens have been placed against mobile home park owners without the park owner knowing of the unpaid bill.

The change will make mobile home park owners responsible for wastewater bills. The amount of the bills will be incorporated into lease bills for mobile home owners.

It is much the same process now used for apartment building owners.

The owners of the buildings get billed for sewer use, and the owner incorporates the billings into his rental agreements.

Guimond said all the major towns and cities in Aroostook County bill sewer user rates to mobile home park owners.

Since the proposed change is part of an ordinance, the proposal needed a public hearing.

Wastewater billing is based on water usage by the household or business. While two of the parks use metered water, the other two do not. The two without meters will be billed on a flat rate, depending on the number of homes in the park.

The town’s wastewater bills are sent each month, but only to half the town.

Users receive bills every other month. Depending on the location of the parks, the new bills will start with the April and May billings. The delay allows park owners four or five months to set new lease fees for sites in their mobile home parks.