by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The Machias Water Company has filed a request to increase water rates by 25 percent, a move Machias officials fear will create too much financial strain on an already-burdened local economy.

“I don’t know how many of these individual businesses know that the increase of 25 percent is being proposed, and I’m scared that we will come out of this COVID-19 shut down and then they’ll get slammed with this,” said Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien.