Town council waiting on judges’ decision

MOORESVILLE – Mooresville Town Council President George Watkins said the town has had two hearings in July with Indiana American Water Company on the stay that was put in place by IAWC on Mooresville’s efforts to purchase its water system. The stay means that the town and council cannot move forward with the purchase until IAWC’s suit against them for supposedly violating the company’s Contitutional rights and Open Door laws is settled. That suit was filed Oct. 4, 2012.

In a public meeting last August, Mooresville residents and town councilmen heard a presentation by council member Anthony Langley on why it would benefit Mooresville to own and operate its water system. IAWC has refused to sell and turned down the $6.5 million offered by the council. The town then moved forward with an ordinance to condemn the water property. State Judge Jeffrey V. Boles, who lives in Hendricks County, is hearing the condemnation case in Morgan Superior Court at the state level. Boles is hearing the condemnation case and will decide what a fair purchase price should be.

Council members have feared that IAWC’s plan for joining Mooresville to other municipalities in a higher pricing group would continue the big raises that went into effect in June 2012.

“We had a settlement conference with a federal magistrate July 12 and a hearing in front of a federal judge toward the end of July. At that meeting, the judge listened to both our sides and heard some pre-trial motions,” Watkins said. “She (the judge) said we could expect her decision probably by sometime in September. The moratorium is still in effect.”

Watkins said there has been nothing IAWC has requested that the town has not provided it. The court is not waiting on documents from the town for the judge to make her decision. He said the town and clerk-treasurer have followed the court’s requests all during the process.

“They (IAWC officials) decided to sue us before we moved ahead to buy the water system, so we had to pursue our options in state court. Things seemed to be moving along well there until American Water asked for a stay in the proceedings,” Watkins said.

Boles issued the stay.

In a media statement, Joe Loughmiller, external affairs manager for IAWC, said the parties appeared by their authorized representatives and by counsel for a settlement conference on July 12.

“The conference was held and concluded without settlement,” the statement said. “The federal court judge has indicated that she would likely rule on at least some of the motions that have been filed in September. The stay on the town’s condemnation case continues to be in place until the issues in federal court are resolved.”

Alan DeBoy, IAWC president, said these takeover attempts don’t usually end well for anyone, most notably for taxpayers who are inevitably left holding the bag many years later in the form of higher taxes and water rates.

“A phone survey conducted by a professional research firm in December 2012 indicates that the Mooresville Town Council’s actions to take over the Mooresville water system through a hostile government takeover are overwhelmingly not supported by their constituents,” DeBoy said. “Approximately 80 percent of those responding indicated Indiana American Water should continue to own the local water company, and nearly 90 percent agreed that the town has more important and pressing priorities to address than buying the local water company.

“We will continue to play an integral role in Mooresville, not only as a supplier of quality water service, but also as a key community partner and significant taxpayer,” said DeBoy. “We are proud of our record in Mooresville and across the state. We want to assure our customers that we will continue to put them first and do everything in our power to ensure they continue to receive the quality water and service they are accustomed to.”

By Amy Hillenburg | Reporter | Published August, 10th 2013 in The Reporter Times