Bottles of water are a blur as they move to a laser scriber to be imprinted before packaging in 2013 at the Poland bottling plant.
RUMFORD — Now that the Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved Poland Spring owner Nestle’s plan to tap into a Lincoln Water District well, plans for a bottling plant in that town may follow.
At a public meeting July 12, the Rumford Water District spelled out details of a proposed 15-year agreement with Poland Spring Water Co. for up to 150 million gallons per year.
Board of trustees Chairman Jim Thibodeau said getting a Poland Spring bottling plant was part of the negotiations.
“This is a 15-year contract that we’re signing with them,” Thibodeau said. “It gives them about 13 years to make their minds up. We, at that time, have the option to exercise a renewal or not. So we’ve left ourselves an opening.
“I personally feel that we negotiated in good faith with them and I would expect Nestle, and the people we’re dealing with, to live up to what they promised they’d give us,” he said.
Asked if the renewal of the 15-year agreement is contingent upon getting a bottling plant, Thibodeau said, “Absolutely.”
“Nothing says they have to wait 15 years to build a plant or start a plant, but that is kind of a deadline,” he said.
The agreement can be executed as early as Aug. 11, according to the district’s board of trustees.
Regarding the contract, Thibodeau said, “We’ve got a meeting next week. I’m not saying we are going to sign. If not, I’m sure it’s going to be the following month.
The contract is good for both the company and the town, he said.
“It’s good for the town because we’ll still have plenty of water to get us by,” Thibodeau said. “They’ll be able to extract what they want.”
The draft agreement with Nestle Waters North America, Poland Spring’s parent company, would generate between $200,000 and $300,000 in annual payments to the district for the extracted water on top of $144,000 in leasing fees for Poland Spring’s use of well and water-extraction equipment owned by the district.
Nestle Waters North America also would create a $1 million investment fund for Rumford, paying $250,000 per year over the first four years, on top of property taxes, annual payments in lieu of taxes and other fees spelled out in the agreement.
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