BOCC chairwoman blasts water utility

Exert from -------

BOCC chairwoman blasts water utility
By Mike Wright


If nothing else, Vicki Phillips was blunt.

Phillips, chairwoman of the Citrus County Commission, didn't hold back during an interview Wednesday in criticizing the Florida Governmental Utility Authority's recent attempts to assess land owners in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs for water lines.

And she was pointedly critical to County Administrator Richard Wesch, a member of the FGUA three-member board, for keeping herself and the public in the dark about the assessments even though they had discussed it with developers months ago.

"I understand business. I understand somebody has to pay for all of this," Phillips told the Chronicle Editorial Board as Wesch sat just to her left. "But they need to go by the rules."

FGUA had planned to assess Pine Ridge lot owners $6,571 and Citrus Springs lot owners $2,082 to extend water lines. It dropped the Pine Ridge assessment altogether when two developers pulled their lots out of the program; FGUA now says it has enough money to extend water lines in other areas of Pine Ridge without an assessment.

The utility also agreed to have the Citrus Springs assessment reviewed by the county's water and wastewater authority, after insisting for weeks that the review wasn't necessary.

Phillips said when FGUA acquired a string of private utilities in 2002, it promised not to raise rates for five years. The assessment, she asserted, is FGUA's way of passing costs onto customers without raising rates.

"They need to stick to the 2002 agreement," she said.

Phillips said FGUA may have won support from property owners had it gone public with the plan in January, rather than waiting until June. Worse, she said, is that Wesch didn't keep her informed, especially since her district includes Citrus Springs and Pine Ridge.

Wesch said he thought the FGUA staffers would have informed commissioners. Phillips said that answer was unacceptable.

"Richard's first loyalty is to the board of county commissioners," she said.

The county commission appointed Wesch to the FGUA board in 2002 when he served as assistant county administrator. FGUA bylaws say no commissioners may be on its board, but Phillips did not say if she thinks Wesch should be replaced on the FGUA board.

Asked for a response to Phillips' contention that FGUA blundered in its public relations, he said simply: "We admitted it. It will not happen again."

Phillips said before the no-rate-increase agreement ends in 2007 the county should consider buying the utility.

"There's no accountability with these folks," she said. "When the five years is up, there will be no accountability at all."