ANDOVER — Landowners who participate in the state Tree Growth tax program were advised this week to ignore a supplemental tax bill sent earlier this month.
On Monday, the town mailed letters to 125 landowners, telling them the supplemental tax bill was incorrect and they owed nothing. If they have paid it, they were told to contact the Town Office to get a refund or have it applied to their 2017 taxes.
Selectman Jane Rich told selectmen Tuesday night that the error was hers.
Earlier this month, Rich said the landowners were undercharged on their original tax bills because of an error she made when preparing the town’s tax forms on the computer. The supplemental bills were sent to cover the amount owed.
However, Rich later discovered that the original tax bills were correct, so no supplemental bills should have been sent.
“The original warrant was right; the original commitment was right,” she said Tuesday night.
Town Secretary Tracy Allegra said the letters sent Monday advise landowners not to pay the supplemental tax bill. If they have, they should contact the office to get a refund or apply it to their 2017 tax bill, she said.
In other business, Rich presented selectmen with a copy of a letter from Connecticut attorney Stephen Hudspeth, a seasonal resident of Andover, to Attorney General Janet Mills.
The letter expresses concern about plans by Nestle Waters North America and its subsidiary, Poland Spring Water Co., to possibly tap into the ground around Milligan Well, Rumford’s primary water source, to search for springs. The well is near the Ellis River off Route 5.
Hudspeth said his specific concern is “over the integrity of the aquifer(s) supplying the Rumford source at this high level of water drawdown” and its possible adverse impact on the water supply in Andover.
“Andover’s water supply is irreplaceable and key to our town’s future,” he wrote. He asked the Attorney General’s Office to investigate.
Assistant Attorney General Peggy Bensinger, writing on behalf of Mills, said, “The role of the Attorney General’s Office in a proposal for water withdrawals is to provide legal advice.” She said the “office does not have the technical staff or the resources to conduct the type of investigation you request.”
Bensinger also wrote that, “To date, no application has been filed by Poland Spring or Nestle for a permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection or from the Maine Drinking Water Program for water withdrawals in Rumford.”
In other business, selectmen gave resident Kim Gautreau and the Maine Old Cemetery Association permission to clean the gravestones in Woodlawn Cemetery. Gautreau said the organization is funded by donations.
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