Letter: District ought to be constrained by charter (July 18, 2008)
Editor:
[The following is an open letter to Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District (KKWWD) trustees]
Dear elected KKWWD board members:
When one reads the KKWWD charter it appears clearer than a bottle of Maine spring water… the KKWWD board has no rights to sell water to anyone other than the inhabitants of “Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford.”
From the 2006 Annual Report: Nature of Business. “The District was established in 1921 as a quasi-municipal corporation organized by a special act of the Maine State Legislature to provide and maintain a water treatment and distribution system for the inhabitants of the District. The District serves the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit and portions of Biddeford, Arundel, and York. The District is governed by a four member Board of Trustees, one elected from each of the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells and Ogunquit.”
KKWWD 1921 Charter: An Act to Incorporate the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District, Chapter 159, P & S L of ME. 1921. “Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine, as follows: Sec. 1. Territorial limits, corporate name and purpose. The territory and people constituting the Towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells, except that portion of the Town of Wells situated one mile and more northerly and westerly of the state highway through said town, shall constitute a body politic and corporate under the name of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford, now being served by the York County Water Company, with pure water for domestic and municipal purposes.”
I believe the above three statements in the KKWWD Charter say it all. “The District serves the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit and portions of Biddeford, Arundel, and York…for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford.”
Page 11 Section 8 written in 1921 even specifically reads: “No authority conferred to furnish water to City of Biddeford and Town of York.
No authority to furnish and supply water within the City of Biddeford and Town of York is conferred upon said district by this act except to the extent of the legal rights therein now held and enjoyed by said York County Water Company.”
Back in 1921 when the Maine State Legislature wrote this, they were pretty darn clear on the boundaries of whom the KKWWD should serve. By what right would the KKWWD board even begin to think they can sell our town’s water to the world? Appears to me they have no right to do this!
But assuming KKWWD does have the right to sell our town’s natural resource to the world, water is currently selling for more than gas. Why would the KKWWD board sell this precious natural resource for pennies on the dollar? A natural resource that will only increase in value in the coming years as the world experiences grave water shortages.
Demand for water around the world is growing faster than the demand for oil.
Why would the KKWWD board enter into a 35 to 55-year deal with the only out clauses being “in case of emergency?”
Most importantly, you cannot sell what you have no right to sell.
Now why the state of Maine, the No. 1 highest taxed state in the nation, continues to allow private corporations to make ridiculous profits from this incredible natural resource and is not looking into how to properly harvest this state resource to protect and benefit all Maine citizens is the topic of a future letter.
Greg Burke
Kennebunk
[The following is an open letter to Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District (KKWWD) trustees]
Dear elected KKWWD board members:
When one reads the KKWWD charter it appears clearer than a bottle of Maine spring water… the KKWWD board has no rights to sell water to anyone other than the inhabitants of “Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford.”
From the 2006 Annual Report: Nature of Business. “The District was established in 1921 as a quasi-municipal corporation organized by a special act of the Maine State Legislature to provide and maintain a water treatment and distribution system for the inhabitants of the District. The District serves the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit and portions of Biddeford, Arundel, and York. The District is governed by a four member Board of Trustees, one elected from each of the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells and Ogunquit.”
KKWWD 1921 Charter: An Act to Incorporate the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District, Chapter 159, P & S L of ME. 1921. “Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine, as follows: Sec. 1. Territorial limits, corporate name and purpose. The territory and people constituting the Towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells, except that portion of the Town of Wells situated one mile and more northerly and westerly of the state highway through said town, shall constitute a body politic and corporate under the name of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford, now being served by the York County Water Company, with pure water for domestic and municipal purposes.”
I believe the above three statements in the KKWWD Charter say it all. “The District serves the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit and portions of Biddeford, Arundel, and York…for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said district and said municipalities, and also portions of the Town of York and City of Biddeford.”
Page 11 Section 8 written in 1921 even specifically reads: “No authority conferred to furnish water to City of Biddeford and Town of York.
No authority to furnish and supply water within the City of Biddeford and Town of York is conferred upon said district by this act except to the extent of the legal rights therein now held and enjoyed by said York County Water Company.”
Back in 1921 when the Maine State Legislature wrote this, they were pretty darn clear on the boundaries of whom the KKWWD should serve. By what right would the KKWWD board even begin to think they can sell our town’s water to the world? Appears to me they have no right to do this!
But assuming KKWWD does have the right to sell our town’s natural resource to the world, water is currently selling for more than gas. Why would the KKWWD board sell this precious natural resource for pennies on the dollar? A natural resource that will only increase in value in the coming years as the world experiences grave water shortages.
Demand for water around the world is growing faster than the demand for oil.
Why would the KKWWD board enter into a 35 to 55-year deal with the only out clauses being “in case of emergency?”
Most importantly, you cannot sell what you have no right to sell.
Now why the state of Maine, the No. 1 highest taxed state in the nation, continues to allow private corporations to make ridiculous profits from this incredible natural resource and is not looking into how to properly harvest this state resource to protect and benefit all Maine citizens is the topic of a future letter.
Greg Burke
Kennebunk
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