PIEDMONT, W.Va. (WV News) — As the Jan. 1 water shutoff nears, the City of Piedmont continues looking for clarification of several points in the water proposal presented to them earlier this month by the Town of Westernport.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission had given Piedmont a Nov. 1 deadline to have a firm plan in place for the acquisition of water for the town residents.
In the case of Westernport, Piedmont could either enter into a permanent contract for potable water to be supplied by their Maryland neighbor, or extend the current agreement for raw water until a long-term plan is in place.
Not only did Westernport not meet the Nov. 1 deadline, however, but the proposal they presented made the current agreement for raw water contingent upon approval of the long-term agreement for potable water, or else Westernport will issue Piedmont a red shutoff tag on Jan. 1.
Piedmont has been searching for a permanent water supply since losing its source through the closure of the Verso Luke Mill, and in the interim has been paying Westernport $3,000 a month for raw water.
According to Piedmont water commissioner Greg Harvey, Westernport’s proposal for permanently supplying potable water puts the pricetag at $4 per thousand gallons, which Harvey said is acceptable.
It is the second part of the proposal, however, which raises the cost of the raw water that Westernport would continue to supply until the permanent water line could be constructed that Harvey says Piedmont cannot afford.
“They want to switch from $3,000 a month back to $25.80 a tap, which raises our bill to $6,991,” he said during Piedmont’s Nov. 1 meeting.
During Piedmont’s Nov. 15 meeting, Harvey said he has a list of questions which he’d like Westernport to answer in regard to the proposal.
“There’s some references to their ordinances which we can’t relate to unless they show us what those ordinances say,” he said.
“We will be meeting with them soon to discuss the issues we have with the proposal.”
Harvey also noted that he attended Westernport’s November meeting, and “they let their residents know that they had given us a proposal but they hadn’t heard back yet.”
Harvey took issue with that comment and met briefly with Westernport mayor Judy Hamilton.
“I had an informal meeting with Judy. It took her 2 1/2 months to give me a proposal; I can’t give a reply back in three days,” he said.
Harvey said Piedmont city attorney Jason Sites is currently looking over the proposal, and in the meantime, “I will leave all options open” in regard to water sources.
As a result of missing the Nov. 1 deadline, Harvey and Piedmont mayor Paula Boggs had to travel to Charleston for a status hearing with the WVPSC.
“They wanted an update on where we are with everything they cited us for,” Harvey explained.
“We let them know we believe we took care of everything.”
Post a comment as Anonymous Commenter
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.