Brewer Water District

Recent stories in the Bangor Daily News and elsewhere have described the city of Brewer’s plans to acquire the assets and the utility service obligations of the Brewer Water District. Without holding a public meeting or even consulting with the trustees of the district appointed by the council, the city has introduced an emergency bill before the Maine legislature to dissolve the district and to assign its assets and responsibilities to the city.

What’s the hurry?

The city explains that it believes that it can reduce costs by combining the district’s operations with city government. To date, however, the city has presented no plan to the trustees of the Brewer Water District or to the citizens of Brewer that demonstrates that it can achieve cost savings while maintaining the public health and safety at existing levels.

Indeed, at the trustees urging, the City has only begun the process of examining whether it can assume the district’s subsidized debt, whether it can assume the easements that protect the source of the public drinking water, and examining all of the district’s deeds to real estate, financial obligations, and contracts. The city has only just begun examining the various environmental and consumer protection regulations to which it will be subject and has not developed a schedule for applying for required licenses and approvals. The city does not yet have in place sufficient credit arrangements to payoff the district’s short-term debt. The city has no employees on staff licensed to operate a water system and has made no assurances to the district trustees that it will retain any existing staff.

The risks of moving ahead quickly without considering all of the implications of such action could lead to unintended consequences. For instance, since over 60 percent of the district’s budget is debt service, if the district’s subsidized loans or grants couldn’t be assumed by the city, rates could wind up even higher than they are today. Because of issues already brought to the attention of the city by the district’s trustees, the city is expected to amend its Bill to allow it to assume some of the district’s debt on a 40 year basis, thereby avoiding a $60,000 rate increase.

The city is correct that water rates have risen dramatically over the past ten years. These increases have primarily been the result of projects needed to comply with the federal Safe Water Drinking Act. However, during this period the District has successfully obtained more federal grants and loan subsidies than any water utility in the state, saving customers millions of dollars in water rates and keeping water rate increases below those of City-managed sewer rates. Simultaneously, the district has improved service dramatically:

? Reducing the number of line breaks by almost 80 percent between 1991 and 2001;

? In 2001, being named by the Maine Rural Water Utilities Association as the best-tasting treated water in Maine;

? Having a minimal number of consumer complaints to the Public Utilities Commission;

? Improving fire protection, with an expected improvement in its Fire Suppression Rating from 32.18 (out of 40) to 36 to 37 when it is next rated in 2004.

The district also participates actively in the economic development of Brewer and the surrounding communities that it serves.

Upon learning of the proposed legislation, the district trustees immediately sought to meet with members of the City Council to discuss whether a consolidation with city government would be in the best interests of the district’s customers. To date, two in person meetings have occurred and a substantial amount of information has been exchanged. Because of these meeting, some major pitfalls have already been avoided. The trustees are committed to continuing this dialogue.

The trustees urge the city council, the legislative delegation and the citizens of Brewer to move prudently to study the benefits of a possible consolidation of the Water District with city government. However, given the scheduled end of the legislative session in the next few weeks, moving ahead with a proposed bill on an emergency basis may be more likely to create an emergency than to solve one.

Andrew Landry is a Brewer Water District trustee