NEW SHARON — With no money in the checking account, almost $250,000 in debt and no trustees, selectmen are asking the Maine Public Utilities Commission to appoint a receiver for the New Sharon Water District.
The request was made at a public hearing called by the PUC and held Thursday evening at Cape Cod Hill School.
Maine Public Utilities Commissioner Phillip Bartlett II, left, speaks Thursday evening to New Sharon Selectman Kevin Libby during a public hearing on the New Sharon Water District at the Cape Cod Hill School. D. Noelle Forrest, center, transcribes the hearing. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
The PUC opened an investigation of the district in September 2023 because of its financial situation.
Water District Treasurer Mercy Hanson said the district was incorporated in 1967. It owes a total of nearly $250,000 on loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank taken in July 2017. The loan payments are about $18,000 a year, she said.
The district also has a monthly line of credit for $3,000, and $1,500 in a USDA loan guarantee account. However, there is no money in the checking account at this time, she said Friday.
There are about 100 customers who pay an average of $33 a month for water.
The town is also a customer and pays $19,402 annually for fire protection services for 10 hydrants. Last year, the town advanced the district $10,000 from its contingency fund for its loan payment and will give the remaining $9,402 this year.
There is a primary operator and an on-call operator for the water system.
Besides the financial situation, all five district trustees have resigned, including Hanson, who plans to retire May 13 but said she will stay until she is replaced.
“I think the district is in dire straits,” Selectman Kevin Libby said. “We need help. We need help now.”
“I would like the charter dissolved,” he said, speaking as a resident. “As a selectman I can’t say that.”
“I think we need to have someone to run the water district,” Libby said, asking the commission to appoint a receiver.
Hearing examiner Amy Mills said commissioners could not appoint a receiver at the hearing. Normally, she said, one is appointed temporarily.
Residents would have to vote on whether to have the town take over the water district.
Commissioner Phillip Bartlett II said a trustee may not have knowledge to run the district but could make decisions on what to do.
Kirsten Hebert, executive director of Maine Rural Water Association, was asked if the association could take on the job of temporary receiver. She said she would need to see what the time constraints are, among other considerations.
Hebert said the association began working with the water district in 2010 and most recently has been preparing a rate increase case for the district.
In March, trustees decided to seek a 35% rate hike with incremental raises after that, Hanson said.
That request must go through a formal process before being approved.
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