BLUEFIELD, Va. — The town of Bluefield, Va. will maintain its municipal water system for now.
The Bluefield, Va. Town Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to decline Virginia America Water Company's proposal to purchase the municipal water system. A large crowd was in attendance for the vote with the majority of the citizens who spoke during the earlier public hearing being opposed to the proposed sale of the town's water system.
Based upon Tuesday night's vote, the town maintains ownership of its water system, Town Manager Andrew Hanson said Thursday.
"The council had three options following the public hearing," Hanson said. "One was to decline the proposal; one was to accept the proposal to enter into the next phase of the PPA (Public Private Infrastructure Act of 2002). The third vote was to postpone a vote for additional information gathering."
The council members had a lengthy discussion regarding the proposed sale during Tuesday's night's meeting.
"If anyone wants to make a motion to do one of the three, now is the time to do the motion," Mayor Donnie Linkous told his fellow council members. "If we vote no it stops. If we vote yes, all that is is to continue with the process and enter into negotiations and get the questions answered. It in no way, if there is a yes vote tonight, it is no way saying yes we are selling the water system. Or we can kick the can down the road. We’ve had four public hearings already. We can have four more. Whatever you think. I open the floor up for whatever you want to do."
The motion to reject the proposed sale of the town's water system was made by council member James Knowles.
“Well it’s a tremendous decision for this town and we’ve had multitude meetings," Knowles said. "This was probably the biggest turnout that I’ve seen so far. And over the last several days, and even tonight, I’ve yet to hear from one person who is for this. To me it looks like a big corporation grab."
Knowle's motion to reject the sale of the water system was seconded by council member Karen Rich. Vice Mayor Anglis Trigg initially voted to support Knowle's motion, but later changed his vote to no.
Council member Cathy Payne also voted no.
"Why don't we postpone doing anything and get more information in here and get Virginia American Water back," Payne said. "I've been to all of the sessions. We have had maybe 12 to 15 people there. The people who came here tonight I feel like they only received information from that union. I can't say to stop the talk because I think we need to vote to continue. So my vote would be no."
That left it up to council member Meagan Vance-Kade to cast the deciding vote with council member Chad Lambert absent. She supported Knowle's motion not to sell the town's water system.
"I just want to say thank you to all for making your voices heard," Vance-Kade said. "I never anticipated that I would have a vote that would fall in line with the union. I don’t agree with a lot of unions on a lot of issues. Being really torn. But you know we answer to you all. I answer to you all. You are in charge. I may have voted differently if each of you hadn't been so vocal and persistent."
The town of Bluefield, Va., was one of several municipalities considering the sale of its water system. The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors are still considering the proposed sale of the Tazewell County Public Service Authority to Virginia American Water Company. The city of Bluefield also is considering the sale of the Bluefield Sanitary Board to West Virginia American Water Company. A public hearing on that proposed sale was held last month by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The city of Princeton also is considering the sale of its wastewater collection and treatment system to West Virginia American Water Company. According to a legal advertisement in Thursday's edition of the Daily Telegraph, a public hearing will be held at the city council chambers at 800 Bee Street in Princeton on Friday, Oct. 9, at 1:30 p.m. to receive input on the proposed sale. The legal ad says a final vote on the adoption of the proposed ordinance will be held immediately following the public hearing.
However, the final decision on the sale of public utilities does rest with the West Virginia Public Service Commission in the Mountain State and the Virginia State Corporation Commission in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of Thursday, the West Virginia Public Service Commission had not received any filings from the city of Princeton regarding the proposed sale of its wastewater treatment system.
Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
