ROCKPORT — In a move to “integrate operations and maximize service to customers,” Maine Water announced Thursday in a press release that its customer service operations on Route 17 in Rockport would be consolidated into the company's Biddeford facility.

According to the release, the company's plans call for the leadership team, administrative engineering, financial and technical personnel, as well as customer service staff currently based in Rockport to relocate to the Biddeford area.

In the release, Maine Water President Judy Wallingford said, "The company will still maintain its commitments to the customers and communities throughout the 21 service towns, with local management contacts readily available and the management team only a phone call away."

On the phone, Wallingford said that there are 25 people that work in the Rockport facility, 10 that support operations across the state and 15 that run the plant and the testing laboratory

“Of the 10, myself, Greg Leighton, Rick Knowlton, Steve Cox and Pam Blackman will be relocating to work out of Biddeford, and there are four customer service reps currently making personal decisions about whether to move,” said Wallingford. “The 15 plant and lab people will be staying in Rockport and continuing their work there.”

Pam Blackman, the Rockport customer service team leader, has been promoted to customer service manager, charged with overseeing the delivery of customer service across the company.

"We felt it was in the best interest of our customers to consolidate our customer service team in the area where we have the highest concentration of customers. This allows us to operate most efficiently, share staff and resources, and maximize the benefits of our IT systems and other support services to provide the service our customers have come to expect in a cost effective way," Blackman.

Maine Water, formerly Aqua Maine in the Midcoast, serves approximately 32,000 customers in the state, half of which live in the Biddeford-Saco area. Those 15,000 or so customers were formerly served by Biddeford & Saco Water Company, which legally merged into Maine Water earlier in 2014.

In addition to reportedly being offering comparable positions in the Biddeford area with "no impact on their wages," the company said that after six months working in the new office, customer service employees will be eligible to telecommute.

"We value our employees and the service they provide to our customers. That's why we have announced the change well in advance and will assist them in the transition and will make telecommuting available after employees have established themselves in the new office. We are hoping to retain these valued employees and that they will make the transition," said Wallingford.

For customers, this change means that walk-in payment will no longer be accepted in the Rockport office. But customers WILL be able to continue to make payments at the Hannaford supermarkets in Rockland and Camden, as well as at any Bangor Savings Bank branch in the state. Payment by mail and online are also still available at mainewater.com.

In addition to serving as the local, face-to-face customer service office, the Rockport location also includes the Mirror Lake treatment facility. The company said that the employees on the field service and distribution crew, as well as those involved with the certification laboratory, would continue to be based at the Rockport facility and involved in those functions.

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.