Water Authority 2
| Last month, I watched a better than two hour, Tellico
Village Property Owners Association, Town Hall meeting. The entire
meeting was a discussion of the idea of the POA creating a Water
Authority department to manage sewer and water within the village. The
near forty year old community is facing serious issues with they're
water and sewer systems.
According to Chet Pillsbury, CEO of the POA, establishing the Water Authority department could open the doors for millions of dollars in grants (free money) to replace their failing infrastructure. That's not exactly how that works. Most grants are competitive grants, meaning the POA Water Authority department would have to compete with other utilities for many of those grants. In fact, it will take state legislation for the POA to even create a Water Authority department by way of a private act or some other act for a subdivision to create a Water Authority. Pillsbury explained to the crowd that they would need to decide by February 15 by way of a vote. He said that 51% of property owners would need to vote for the proposal in order to get it on this years state legislative agenda. At the meeting, I listened to all the citizen comments and there were a lot. One question that came up several times, what's the rush? With so many unknowns surrounding the creation of the Water Authority department, why not put the breaks on until a lot more is known about this idea. The idea of creating a Water Authority department has just come up in the last few months. Now all of a sudden, time is of the essence and we need to move fast. This is always a red flag. Really, after nearly forty years, what is the rush? No question, the village is facing some serious financial challenges in the near future with roads, water, sewer, etc. There is one alternative that that could solve their problems but the management refuses to even consider it. It's time to incorporate. Below is a link to the POW website that discusses the Water Authority. |
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