Water purchase just beginning

MOORESVILLE – Mooresville Town Council president George Watkins and councilman Tony Langley say they have no intention of hosting any public forums for Indiana American Water Company. Watkins said the town’s attorney and IAWC’s attorney have been talking, since the council approved a resolution in a public meeting to look at taking over the company’s water operations. “Rather than having five individual conversations, it’s better to have one between people who understand the legal aspects of the case,” Watkins said. “

IAWC has gone through this process many times before.” This comes after a public hearing in which the council voted to start the process of purchasing the water company from IAWC through eminent domain. IAWC is not a willing seller. Council members said they are doing this to prevent more hefty rate increases like the most recent one, which raised private customers’ rates nearly 17 percent and heavy corporate water users more than 40 percent.

“At this point, we don’t have plans for public forums to be provided for IAWC,” Watkins said. “We made our case, and they made their case with three different speakers (and in a newspaper response). We’ve established a phone line and email for citizens to use for questions and to get information. “I’ve been very impressed by the way people have responded. They want to know why we’re doing it, will their rates go down and how long it will take. But for the most part, they’ve been positive and respectful.”

IAWC has planned its own information session with a question and answer component from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Mooresville Public Library, 220 W. Harrison St. Water company officials have said they can run the utility more efficiently and according to constantly updated government requirements. They also said they can keep maintenance costs down because of their wide range of resources. Local employees have been involved in the Mooresville community for many years.

Watkins said the council isn’t sure who will be running the operation as far as employees if the city does take over the water system. “Obviously, the town would be running it, but it’s too soon to talk about that,” Watkins said. “We don’t even know if we’re going to buy it yet.“Our local water company is run by four employees. Some of them may stay if we purchase it. When it comes time, employees will have to get state certifications. It’s not a really difficult operation. We’re not running the North American Water System.”

IAWC has made an investment

Langley said IAWC has made investments to the town’s water system — $4 million over the last eight years.“They’ve spent about $500,000 a year, replacing meters, mains and hydrants, adding wells; but these are not significant projects. The water business is capital intensive,” Langley said. Watkins said the reason IAWC does not want to sell Mooresville’s water system is because it runs efficiently and doesn’t require a big capital investment.“We are so profit-rich, with a low overhead, so even though we aren’t drawing in huge piles of money, by percentage, they (IAWC) are making more profits here and sending those dollars to other places that aren’t as efficient or profitable,” Watkins said.

That is the council’s concern about IAWC’s consolidated rate structure, which groups Mooresville with other municipalities in the second rate block, Langley said. In the rate block, the increases are dramatic and used to fund big projects in other areas.“It’s not in the best interest of Mooresville,” Langley said. “This can be a simple process if parties can reach an agreement, but it will be a more lengthy process if we have to go to court.”Watkins said the Mooresville did not have the right to contact IAWC and say it wanted to buy the company without going throught current process. “You have to do this, this and this before you can reach an agreement. Then, an arbiter has to set the final dollar amount,” Watkins said. “After due diligience is done, we will have a very good idea of whether this is the right move for Mooresville. If it is, whatever the short-term costs are, we are looking at the future of Mooresville and planning for something that will far outlive us.”He said residents would hear from the council in regular meetings and through announcements. Watkins added that it will be up to IAWC how much the process will cost and how long it will go on. He said this process could take months or even a year. But the horror stories of it going on for years are over in Indiana. The state has stepped in and has provided a formula for working it out. Watkins said other municipalities will be watching this case to see if it would be viable to purchase their own water systems. And this could create an unwanted domino effect for IAWC and other big water companies.“They (IAWC officials) have a lot to lose other than just 3,600 customers,” Watkins said. “They serve more than a million people in Indiana. They have to protect their revenue. They are not in the business of selling water companies, they are in the business of selling water.”

To email or contact the council directly on this issue, go to mooresvilletowncouncil@gmail.com or 317-831-0697. To here about IAWC’s plans concerning the council’s intent, plan to attend the meeting on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. at Mooresville Public Library, 220 W. Harrison St., Mooresville.

Published September 19th, 2012 in The Reporter Times