Dirigo Drive properties likely to include water fee

BREWER – Developers or property owners who want to connect to the waterline that runs the length of Dirigo Drive probably will have to pay an additional fee, city officials are saying.

During construction of the waterline, which runs from the Whiting’s Hill standpipe into town along the new roadway, the city installed 43 randomly placed service taps at a cost of $31,500, or $732 apiece.

The cost of these taps most likely will be passed along to future property developers, Finance Director Karen Fussell said Wednesday.

“The cost of the tap will be in addition to the impact fees,” she said. “We don’t think anybody will blink an eye to paying $732 to connect to a waterline.”

The Public Utilities Commission has the final say on the issue but is expected to endorse a recommendation to assess the fees within the next couple weeks.

When the PUC decided in May that a rate hike proposed by the city in 2004 was justified, PUC Chairwoman Sharon Reishus and Commissioner Stephen Diamond asked for an investigation into whether property owners along Dirigo Drive should contribute to the cost of the new waterline.

Chapter 65 of PUC rules says if a waterline is extended solely for the purpose of development, the developer or property owners must pay for the extension.

This rule does not apply to Brewer because the new 20-inch-diameter waterline “was built to benefit all ratepayers [within the city] and not just for the benefit of the Dirigo Drive property owners,” Fussell said.

The PUC determined in May that anyone who connects to the new waterline should be charged for the connecting taps.

City officials at that time argued that impact fees assessed on any new development in the Wilson Street business zone that includes Dirigo Drive would more than cover the costs.

After a technical conference on Tuesday with PUC commission staff, Brewer city officials, Deputy Public Advocate William Black and Ron Norton, state economist, the city agreed to add the water tap costs to the impact fees.

PUC utility analyst Lucretia Smith said Wednesday that a recommendation based on Tuesday’s meeting would be made within the next week to the commissioners.

“This is the best option given the time frame and to reduce the further costs of processing this case,” she said.

After the PUC staff’s recommendation is written, all parties involved will be able to file comments.

Once the comments are collected, the recommendation “will go on the [commission’s] deliberations agenda and then a final order will come out probably a week after that,” Smith said.

“Within the next few weeks this case should be concluded,” the PUC analyst said.

Part of the recommendation also calls for the city to contact the PUC in the future if another impact fee zone is created for the city.