Water bid comes with higher price tag

The companies picked to operate water services in Citrus and three other counties propose a budget $15.3-million higher than the current operator's proposal.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET Published September 16, 2005 St Pete Times

INVERNESS - The Florida Governmental Utility Authority has used the same company to handle its operations since it took over Florida Water's systems in Citrus County nearly two years ago.

But when Severn Trent's contract with FGUA expires in December, those systems will likely change hands.

That means FGUA customers in Citrus will deal with different people for billing, maintenance and customer service. At a meeting of the FGUA governing board Thursday, several people asked whether the change also means customers will have to pay a higher price.

An FGUA evaluation committee has selected the joint venture of U.S. Water and Wade Trim to manage its 26 systems in four Florida counties - even though its proposed budget is $15.3-million more than the budget Severn Trent submitted.

FGUA systems manager Robert Sheets said the budget proposals made up just 30 percent of the factors committee members considered. More important, he said, were proposals for business management and technical and customer services issues. He emphasized that rates will not increase when the systems management changes.

"I struggle to think how you're going to do that with those numbers," Joe Graziose, Severn Trent's vice president of services, told the board.

Graziose said he was not happy that FGUA had ranked his company second out of the three proposals submitted.

The third company, Southwest Water/OPTECH, withdrew from the process after being ranked last. Last week, Optech president Robert Monette sent an e-mail criticizing the selection process, saying FGUA officials had "chosen to ignore the most responsible pricing for this contract."

His company's proposed five-year budget was $48.7-million. Severn Trent proposed $50.8-million. And Wade-Trim and U.S. Water proposed $66.2-million.

But FGUA officials say those numbers are not set in stone and will serve only as a jumping off point for negotiations.

County Administrator Richard Wesch, who will help negotiate the new FGUA systems management contract, said he was worried customers' costs would increase under the plan Wade Trim and U.S. Water originally proposed.

"I'm extremely concerned about going forward," he said.

Wesch and other FGUA negotiators will have 10 days to hammer out a contract with Wade Trim and U.S. Water. If they can't reach an agreement, FGUA will negotiate a new contract with Severn Trent.

In Citrus County, FGUA services about 11,300 water customers and 5,215 wastewater customers on 11 different systems.

At Thursday's meeting, the FGUA board also approved its 2006 budget, which includes $20.8-million in capital improvements for its Citrus systems.

During the meeting's public comment period, Bob Bennett, chairman of the Pine Ridge Civic Association's water committee, said FGUA officials should focus less on profit and more on improved services.

Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com at 860-7309.