Come April, Missouri American Water could be the new owner of the water and sewer systems in Wardsville.
The company has filed applications for ownership of those systems with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC).
The Wardsville Board of Trustees entered into an agreement with Missouri American on Dec. 8, according to PSC documents. The village had put out a request for proposal (RFP) and contacted Missouri American about its interest in taking over the systems.
"We knew in advance they had been purchasing municipal systems," Village Attorney Dave Bandre said. "We contacted half a dozen companies to see if they were interested in one or both of the systems. It takes a lot to run, and we wanted someone with the expertise to run things properly. We didn't want to turn it over to someone who couldn't provide the level of service our citizens have had."
Bandre said new requirements from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for village water and sewer systems were a major factor in Wardsville's decision to sell its systems.
"To be in compliance would have cost us multiple millions of dollars, and frankly we don't have enough users to spread the cost evenly and keep rates doable," he said. "We would have had to update the systems, and it would have been a huge cost. Missouri American will have to do some updates to the system, and they were aware of that."
The purchase price was $2.75 million for both the water and sewer systems. Approximately 875 customers are served between the two systems.
Company officials said there is a 90-day period for the PSC to review the application.
For the immediate future, no rate increases are planned if the sale is approved. Currently the Wardsville system's water rate is $13.75 for the first 1,000 gallons of water used and $2.25 per each 1,000 gallons after that. The sewer rate is $32.50 for the first 1,000 gallons and $9 per each 1,000 gallons after that.
This July, the PSC approved new water and sewer rates for all districts served by Missouri American Water. The typical Jefferson City water customer using 4,200 gallons saw rates go down from $41.30 to $32.72. The Jefferson City district's flat sewer rate was raised from $65.22 to $66.93 a month.
Wardsville would become part of Missouri American Water's Jefferson City water and sewer districts if the sale goes through.
Company officials said the next time they could seek an increase would be in two to three years.
Residents wishing to comment on this sale should contact either the Office of the Public Counsel (Governor Office Building, 200 Madison St., Suite 650, P.O. Box 2230, Jefferson City, MO 65102-2230, telephone 866-922-2959, email [email protected]) or the Public Service Commission Staff (P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, MO 65102, telephone 1-800-392-4211, email [email protected]).
On a related matter, Cole County's efforts to sell the water system in Eugene continue.
The town disincorporated in 1997. Since then, the only remaining vestige of the town has been the water system, which Cole County still operates but would like to unload.
In January 2010, the Cole County Commission turned over control of the Eugene water system to Cole County Public Works and its director, Larry Benz.
At a County Commission meeting in August, Benz said his department would like to discuss with the commission a possible rate adjustment for the system.
"We're keeping it above water, no pun intended," Benz said. "We also haven't given up hope of having Missouri American eventually taking over, although they are still skeptical the system can make money."