WINSLOW — Competition isn’t a word normally associated with elections to the board of trustees for the Kennebec Water District.

But it is this year for one of the seats. Two men are running for to represent Winslow on the board. And they both have the same first name, though spelled differently.

Newcomer Carl Allen is challenging incumbent Karl Dornish, who is seeking re-election after serving three three-year terms.

The 10-member board of trustees includes representatives from communities served by the Kennebec Water District, a quasi-municipal utility that gets its water from China Lake and serves Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield, Benton and Vassalboro.

“Usually, there’s not competition” for trustee seats, said Jeffrey LaCasse, general manager of the water district. “We serve five communities and usually half the trustees are up for re-election every two or three years.”

Allen, 64, retired from sales at a company he declined to identify, is a Thomas College graduate with a degree in business.

Allen said he’s running to become a trustee because he believes in community service. Allen said he served for two terms as a member of the Winslow School Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Town Council after that.

“There’s never anybody running for those seats; I think they should be contested every once in a while,” Allen said.

Allen said he is not running to become water district trustee for any specific issue or reason; he’s just interested in the operation and learning more about it.

“I just kind of like to see how it works,” he said. “I have to be there first to see what’s happening. I’d ask a lot of questions.”

Dornish, 79, retired from working at the Sappi Paper mill, is a Colby College graduate and has a master’s degree in business from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Dornish said he was originally asked if he would serve on the board after a trustee had reached a term limit.

“I’ve enjoyed my work as a trustee and think with my background I’ve been able to contribute,” Dornish said. “Kennebec Water District is a very well run organization, and having been in the paper business I’m very familiar with the technology and the management, doing process work.”

Dornish said the biggest issue for him is maintaining the district’s water quality and running the operation as efficiently as possible so user rates are not increased. Dornish said the district has been busy replacing water mains, of which some are 100 or more years old, and installing new meters that precisely measure water use by radio frequency.

“The big thing is to get this new meter reading stuff under our belt and continue to look with a long-term view on how we can maintain quality and volume of water for the district, without raising the rates,” Dornish said.

Water district communities are represented by a certain number of trustees based on their population: Waterville has four trustees, Winslow and Fairfield each have two, and Benton and Vassalboro each have one. Winslow is now represented by Dornish and Brent Williams.

The water district’s annual budget is about $5 million, about 8,700 customer meters, and primarily charges $1.40 per 100 cubic feet of water use, according to LaCasse, the general manager. The district has about 28 employees.

Scott Monroe — 861-9239

smonroe@centralmaine.com

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