BRUNSWICK
Before the Brunswick Sewer District proposes increasing its rates by 40 percent, the district should look for Topsham to pay its fair share, according to some members of the Brunswick Town Council.
According to a presentation Monday to the council by Brunswick Sewer District General Manager Leonard Blanchette, the rate increase will support the first $22 million phase of a two-phase upgrade to the aging sewer plant. Money for the project would be paid through by a bond, which would, in turn, be paid off through an increase in the sewer rates.
According to the district, the average Brunswick customer pays $31 per month for sewer service. That figure would increase 40 percent, to about $44 a month on average, and be phased in over several years.
Topsham and Brunswick share a water district but have separate sewer districts. Topsham pays for the cost and maintenance of the Brunswick wastewater treatment plant based on the amount of flow to the plant.
Based on that formula, Topsham pays for 16 to 17 percent of the cost of the treatment plant each month.
The district’s other major customer, Brunswick Landing, is charged the same as other Brunswick users. The district charges the same rate for commercial and residential users.
“It appears that the Brunswick Sewer Board needs to renegotiate its contract with Topsham to bring more equity into the equation,” said Brunswick Town Councilor John Richardson in an interview on Tuesday. “It will be a very hard sell for the Brunswick Sewer District to ask voters to approve a $22 million bond for infrastructure improvements, unless there is a more equitable distribution.”
The district signed a 50-year contract with Topsham in 1972. The contract does not expire until 2023.
The current contract with Topsham may have made sense when that had a smaller population, said Richardson, but things have changed.
“Topsham has grown quite a bit,” Richardson said. “It’s not a village any more. It’s a full-fledged town.”
In an interview Tuesday, Blanchette said that, although the Topsham Sewer District is getting a good deal under its contract with the Brunswick Sewer District, Topsham rate payers are charged about as much as their Brunswick counterparts. That’s because Topsham still pays for its own infrastructure including pipes and pumping stations, among other costs.
Altering the Brunswick district’s agreement with Topsham would likely result in a large increase to Topsham’s rate payers, according to Blanchette.
“Topsham’s not the bad guy here,” said Blanchette.
According to estimates released in 2013, the average household in Brunswick produces about 2,000 cubic feet of wastewater each quarter, or 8,000 cubic feet annually, at a current cost of $375 per year.
Richardson said he wants to see sewer lines expand to encompass more Brunswick households, which could offset the cost of the plant upgrades.
The Brunswick Sewer District is a quasi-municipal agency, and its charter would need to be changed by the state Legislature in order to actively expand its service.
“I think it’s a tired argument — that ‘we’re not permitted to do so,’” Richardson said on Tuesday. “That needs to be changed.”
The treatment plant was constructed in 1965, and was expanded in 1985 to handle increased capacity. The last major upgrade cost about $12 million in 1989.
Richardson acknowledged that upgrades to the aging plant are “absolutely necessary.”
The district will conduct a public hearing June 19 on the proposed bond, after which the district could amend its charter to increase its current $20 million debt limit.
jswinconeck@timesrecord.com
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