Bell Buckle switches to BCUD water

Bell Buckle Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Thursday night at a special called meeting to sign a contract with Bedford County Utility District, making BCUD the town's primary water source. Wartrace had been the primary supplier, and Bell Buckle will now have to seek a contract with Wartrace as a secondary supplier.

"I've very disappointed in the way this turned out," said Bell Buckle resident Charles Cook, who attended the meeting. "We've been with Wartrace 50 or 60 years and they've never done us dirty."

Two years of change

The vote was the latest chapter in a saga that began on April Fool's Day in 2008, when, even as Wartrace -- which got its water from Cascade Spring -- was planning to refurbish or replace its water treatment plant, a drinking water warning due to high turbidity levels and potentially contaminated water was issued by the state. The town and all of its water customers were issued a "boil order," and Wartrace was ordered to test the water four times a day, seven days a week.

Wartrace officials weighed the costs and time factors between building a new plant or signing on to purchase water from the Tullahoma Utilities Board, and opted for the latter. Before the conversion could take place, however, lines had to be replaced and changes made to the system to better cope with the high pressure expected from TUB lines.

Weather, holidays, construction and other circumstances pushed the original completion date back for months until the hookup was completed in March of this year.

Before the conversion, Wartrace had been charging Bell Buckle $1.55 per thousand gallons. As a secondary source, BCUD charged Bell Buckle $4 per thousand, with a minimum of $800 required each month.

After the conversion, Wartrace was charging $2.50 per thousand gallons, but had offered Bell Buckle no contract to guarantee that price for any set time. Wartrace mayor Don Gallagher said time was needed to see what Wartrace's costs were going to be before they could quote Bell Buckle a long-term price.

BCUD, however, offered the town a contract of $2.55 per thousand for three years, although Bell Buckle would be responsible for any upgrades necessary. If BCUD faced any changes mandated by the government, the costs would be passed along to all BCUD customers. That circumstance, according to Bell Buckle Mayor Dennis Webb, would be the only time BCUD could raise rates.

Contract offers

Earlier this month, the board voted to request contracts from both BCUD and Wartrace, citing the need to have fixed rates for the town's budgetary planning. They set the special called meeting date for June 24, expecting to have the contracts in hand before then.

"Both were kindly enough to get these contracts to us," said Webb. "I wish we could have gotten them a little sooner."

In the Wartrace contract, Webb said the offer was now for $2.60 per thousand gallons, up from the $2.50 Bell Buckle is currently paying. The BCUD contract remained at $2.55.

There were, he said, other aspects to be considered. Bell Buckle water supervisor Ronnie Lokey estimated the cost of the upgrades for the BCUD connection to be about $36,000. Alderman James Anderson estimated that those costs would raise the actual cost per thousand gallons by 17 cents, bringing it to $2.72 per thousand.

Alderman Jenny Hunt prefaced the discussion by telling the board the town's current CDBG grant would pay for those upgrades, less the 16 percent payable by the town. Anderson said that would reduce the BCUD costs to $2.575 per thousand.

"But I'm not counting that grant," he said. "That's still money that would be spent elsewhere."

Hunt said the money would probably be pulled from a proposed project to improve lines from Webb Road to Puncheon Camp Road.

"Does it need to be done? Yes," said Hunt. "Is it a priority? No."

Pay increase concerns

Another concern held by the mayor and aldermen was the clause in the Wartrace contract that would allow rate increases after the initial three-month period. Webb said the wording was vague but he believed it to mean Wartrace could reassess the cost situation after three months and make adjustments to the rate if it was deemed necessary, but both alderwomen, Hunt and Annie Rooney, felt that clause kept it open for Wartrace to raise the rates any time after the three-month period, and more than once.

"It just says 'Thereafter,'" said Rooney. "We could potentially see ongoing raises."

Rooney asked Lokey if BCUD could provide 100 percent of the town's water and Lokey said he believed so. At a previous meeting, he also told the board that Wartrace had been providing 100 percent of the water.

Lokey told the board that with TUB water coming from the Duck River Utility Commission, many of the required tests, such as lead and copper testing as well as THM and other contaminant testing, would be free, performed by DRUC. At the moment, with the government mandating additional tests for one year, that cost could be as high as $2,700. He said he did not know if BCUD would cover those fees.

Webb told the board that even as low as a 5 percent change would make a significant impact in the town's finances.

'Worried about Wartrace'

Anderson said he understood the financial reasons for going with BCUD.

"But I have some personal problems with giving up Wartrace," he said. "We've always had a partnership with them and I consider them a sister town."

Anderson said he was not only worried about backlash from Wartrace, but about the town's finances as well.

"I'm worried about Wartrace," he said.

Anderson and alderman Frank Reagor voted against the motion to accept the BCUD contract, with alderwomen Hunt and Rooney, as well as the mayor, voting for it.

"Keep in mind, this is just a three-year contract," said Anderson. "It's not a lifetime."

Rooney suggested that by the end of the three years, Wartrace would be in a better position to negotiate.

"I think we gave them a very reasonable offer and we can certainly supply all of their water," said Gallagher Friday morning. "I'm disappointed they went that way."