NEWPORT – A special referendum item on the Newport voters’ ballot today would allow the Newport Water District to increase its debt limit from $3.5 million to $8 million.

The water district is convinced that voters who defeated its proposal last fall didn’t understand that a vote in favor wouldn’t raise rates or taxes. The concept that voters possibly misunderstood is that much of the cost of the planned improvements could be covered by state and federal grants, but the law requires the debt limit be raised high enough to cover those grants, Tom Todd, superintendent, explained Thursday.

The debt limit needs to be raised to complete a $2.7 million upgrade to the district’s sand filtration system on Nokomis Pond.

“We have to have a debt limit higher than our debt. Our existing debt is around $2.5 million. We know we’ll have loans when this is done. It will put us over the $3.5 million limit we now have,” Todd said. “Because we’ve already spent $22,000 in fees, legal, advertising, just to get this approved, we don’t want to spend this kind of money every three to five years to expand the debt limit. This amount should carry us through the next 15 years, at least.”

Without the approval of the voters, the district would be unable to accept state grants. The district recently was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, Todd said. “But without the voters’ approval today, we could not accept this half-a-million-dollar gift.”

The upgrade would clear the water, reduce odor and taste problems, but, most importantly, Todd said, it would forestall hefty fines from the DEP.

Todd was stumped last October when only three residents turned out to discuss the water district’s plans. Then in November, voters overwhelmingly voted down the debt expansion.

The vote put the Newport Water District in an unenviable position: The voters rejected increasing the debt, but the federal government is demanding upgrades to the water filtration system.

“We’re not doing this because we want to,” Todd said recently. “It’s because we have to.”

The Newport Water District has been under a consent order since early 2006 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further filter its water and must begin construction of the new system by October of this year.

The district also has launched an unsuccessful, aggressive search for a water source alternative to Nokomis Pond.

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