STARKVILLE – A local and private bill that would have made some rural water associations in Oktibbeha County vulnerable to city takeover died this legislative session without a vote.
A renewed effort next session, though, could affect rural water associations across the state that have territory within a municipality.
“I’m not backing away from this. We’re going to move forward with something,” said District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, who sponsored the local and private bill, then let it die on the calendar. “The water associations out there, there are good people on them who are trying very hard to do a very hard job. But we’re living in a day and age where if we don’t look at some consolidation … we’re going to have people lacking throughout the state.”
Utilities have certificated monopolies in their service areas, with the Mississippi Public Service Commission overseeing rural power and water associations. When a city annexes territory, those rural utilities still hold their certificate unless they surrender it.
Roberson’s bill, as proposed, would have allowed the PSC to “find” if a water association inside Starkville could adequately cover its territory. If it cannot, then Starkville Utilities can take over the territory in question as long as it is inside the city limits.
The onus, he and Starkville officials said, is Clayton Village Water Association’s embargo on new service. The state Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Water Supply ordered the association to halt new connections in 2023 because it is 8% over capacity.
Part of the Clayton Village Water Association’s territory lies in an area the city annexed last year, and the embargo is stalling new development in a prime area.
“If I was a customer in the annexed territory, and I wanted to build a business or grow a business out there, I could not do it,” Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch on Friday.
But if passed, the bill could have affected the two other rural water associations that serve customers in the city limits – Talking Warrior and Rockhill.
Roberson said legal red tape, such as how to deal with franchise agreements the rural water associations have, pumped the brakes on his bill.
However, he is working with Chris Brown, the state’s Northern District public service commissioner, to craft a similar bill that would apply statewide and offer rural water associations both “a carrot and a hammer” for providing adequate service to municipal customers.
“Right now, we don’t know what that looks like,” Roberson said.
Brown did not return a call or message for comment by press time.
‘Flip the damn valve’
In hopes of having the Health Department lift the moratorium on new connections, Clayton Village Water Association is entering a bilateral water use agreement with the adjacent Golden Triangle Water Association.
Those two systems are already connected, Clayton Village General Manager Willette McClain said, so Golden Triangle can easily sell Clayton Village water to supplement its system. Then, with Health Department approval, it can service new customers while building a new well and elevated tank to increase its own capacity.
McClain said Clayton Village is trying to borrow the $2 million needed for new infrastructure and the association should know if the loan is approved by Sept. 1. From there, she believes building those assets will take a year to 18 months.
Spruill said she attended a Clayton Village board meeting in April in hopes the water association would cede its territory in the annexed area to Starkville or at least supplement its service. That’s when she learned about Clayton Village’s connection with the Golden Triangle association.
“All they have to do is flip a valve,” Spruill told The Dispatch. “So I Ieft the meeting saying, ‘Well then flip the damn valve’ and ‘Why did you wait this long?’”
A statewide law?
Spruill called Roberson’s local and private bill dying “incredibly unfortunate” but not too surprising.
A statewide bill could garner support from the Mississippi Municipal League, Spruill noted, and “have a decent chance at a stronger lobby in favor of it happening next year.”
“It was a fairly serious topic that actually is a statewide issue,” she said. “There are numerous small rural water associations that in reality have outlived their usefulness.”
She believes rural water associations inside or adjacent to municipalities should think hard about folding into those city systems. Rural associations are part-time and nonprofit, she noted, often lacking the resources and staffing of a larger system.
Bluefield and Old West Point water associations, which served customers in Starkville, found they were better off allowing the city to take over their systems, she said.
“I would venture to say that if they had the best interests of their customers in mind, that’s what (Clayton Village) would do,” Spruill said.
While not as drastic as Clayton Village, Spruill said Talking Warrior and Rockhill had issues too.
But McClain wants better communication from the city, noting she first learned about Roberson’s local and private bill in March when a Dispatch reporter contacted her.
“Rural water associations are set up for rural communities,” she said. “… We should be able to help each other out, not go in because you annexed an area and just try to pass a law to take over.”
McClain also on Friday repeatedly said Clayton Village’s water system is “self-sustainable.”
Spruill begs to differ.
“We had expectations we would be getting development and growth out there,” she said. “… If they were serving all their customers to the capacity they want to be served, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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