County delays utilities purchase (Citrus County)
By Terry Witt
The Florida Governmental Utility Authority has postponed discussion of a new operations contract for 60 days to give Citrus County time to evaluate the purchase of 11 local utilities. FGUA’s board voted Friday for the postponement.
Citrus County commissioners had earlier asked FGUA to delay for 60 days a decision on its pending operations contract to allow time for a study of the potential purchase. The county has hired two consultants to conduct the study.
Commissioners said they have lost confidence in FGUA’s ability to manage its 11 utilities in Citrus County. The county would like to own the systems if the purchase is economically feasible and doesn’t raise customer bills.
FGUA Systems Director Robert Sheets said he doesn’t know how the recommended bidder for the operations contract will react to the postponement. A committee of FGUA officials had negotiated a five-year contract of about $62 million with Wade Trim/US.Wade Trim’s initial contract bid of $79.9 million bid was $21 million higher than the lowest bidder. The bid has since been negotiated down to about $62 million, according to FGUA.
Severn Trent, the current operations manager, was granted a six-month extension of its current contract to operate FGUA’s systems until a new contractor takes over. The Severn Trent contract can be terminated with 60 days notice, Sheets said.
FGUA’s three biggest utility systems in Citrus County are Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs. Those three communities account for 70 percent of FGUA’s customers.One of the events that triggered the county’s interest in purchasing FGUA’s local holdings was a decision earlier this year by FGUA to impose property assessments in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs to pay for water line extensions. The Pine Ridge portion of the proposal was later dropped, but the special assessments in Citrus Springs are pending review by the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority.
When customers protested the assessments, and the county insisted on intervening, FGUA said the county had no authority to make such an evaluation. The government utility later relented and granted WWA the right to review the rates, but only at the insistence of the county commission.
WWA has granted FGUA an interim rate hike to impose the assessments in Citrus Springs until a final decision is rendered in November.
The Florida Governmental Utility Authority has postponed discussion of a new operations contract for 60 days to give Citrus County time to evaluate the purchase of 11 local utilities. FGUA’s board voted Friday for the postponement.
Citrus County commissioners had earlier asked FGUA to delay for 60 days a decision on its pending operations contract to allow time for a study of the potential purchase. The county has hired two consultants to conduct the study.
Commissioners said they have lost confidence in FGUA’s ability to manage its 11 utilities in Citrus County. The county would like to own the systems if the purchase is economically feasible and doesn’t raise customer bills.
FGUA Systems Director Robert Sheets said he doesn’t know how the recommended bidder for the operations contract will react to the postponement. A committee of FGUA officials had negotiated a five-year contract of about $62 million with Wade Trim/US.Wade Trim’s initial contract bid of $79.9 million bid was $21 million higher than the lowest bidder. The bid has since been negotiated down to about $62 million, according to FGUA.
Severn Trent, the current operations manager, was granted a six-month extension of its current contract to operate FGUA’s systems until a new contractor takes over. The Severn Trent contract can be terminated with 60 days notice, Sheets said.
FGUA’s three biggest utility systems in Citrus County are Sugarmill Woods, Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs. Those three communities account for 70 percent of FGUA’s customers.One of the events that triggered the county’s interest in purchasing FGUA’s local holdings was a decision earlier this year by FGUA to impose property assessments in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs to pay for water line extensions. The Pine Ridge portion of the proposal was later dropped, but the special assessments in Citrus Springs are pending review by the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority.
When customers protested the assessments, and the county insisted on intervening, FGUA said the county had no authority to make such an evaluation. The government utility later relented and granted WWA the right to review the rates, but only at the insistence of the county commission.
WWA has granted FGUA an interim rate hike to impose the assessments in Citrus Springs until a final decision is rendered in November.
posted by Editor Facts & Myths @ 12:16 PM
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