News

McGrady hedges on state control of city water

By Bill Moss, Published: March 31, 2017

State Rep. Chuck McGrady says he is not committed to filing legislation that would give state regulators control of the Hendersonville’s water system. Instead, he said, is talking with officials about numerous water issues in Henderson and Buncombe counties.
“I am trying to negotiate this thing out,” he said in an interview last week. “I actually talk to people. It’s a strange habit. But that’s what I’m doing and I have not reached a decision. They know what the deadline is and in fact the public does if they’ve seen my newsletter.”
In a newsletter he sent out on Thursday, McGrady pushed back on the characterization of state oversight of the city water system as a takeover, blaming newspaper headlines.
“There is no takeover of the Hendersonville water or sewer systems being considered,” he said. “What is being considered with respect to Hendersonville is some way of allowing the 70 percent of the city’s water system customers to have some voice in the operation of the system. There are a number of ways to make sure that there are checks on the city’s rate-making and other decisions relating to the water system, and I’m exploring possibilities with our bill drafting staff and with local officials.”

State would mandate uniform rates
The Henderson County Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 on March 15 to ask local lawmakers to support legislation subjecting the city system to the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The next day, Chairman Michael Edney sent a letter asking the local delegation to support legislation giving the Utilities Commission rate-making authority over city systems with at least half their customers outside city boundaries.
The change in state law would result in “a thorough review of the city’s rates and fees, making them uniform for all customers” and would “provide oversight to make sure there is no discrimination of ‘outside city’ customers versus ‘inside city’ customers,” Edney said.
In his newsletter, McGrady confirmed publicly for the first time that legislators threatened the city of Hendersonville five years ago not to use water “as a weapon” against neighbors.
“Yes, Hendersonville is playing nice now, but that probably relates, in part, to the clear threat, communicated by then-Sen. Tom Apodaca and me about five years ago,” he said. “Hendersonville didn’t want to get sucked into the legislation establishing a regional water and sewer authority, and city officials were told that Hendersonville would not be part of that legislation as long as they didn’t do what Asheville had done—specifically, use its water system to subsidize the city budget and use its control of water as a weapon against its neighbors.”
McGrady said he’s talking to all parties and trying to juggle utilities issues involving the cities of Asheville and Hendersonville, Henderson and Buncombe counties and the Metropolitan Sewerage District and Cane Creek Sewer District.
The Henderson County Board of Commissioners endorsed the public Utilities Commission oversight of Hendersonville water after Commissioner Bill Lapsley demanded that the City Council cede the water system to a countywide authority. Hendersonville officials have already begun mounting a counter-offensive in Raleigh, although the city as not yet hired a lobbyist or an outside attorney.
“Not at all surprised,” McGrady said of the city’s strong opposition. “They have communicated that with me. Of course they don’t want to come under the supervision of anybody. They want to be able to set their rates. They want to make their capital investment. They want to be able to figure out how much of the money that comes from their water system is allocated to different parts of their city budget without anybody looking over their shoulder.
“And what do they say about the 70 percent of their customers who have no voice in anything related to their water system? What they’ll say is, ‘There’s no problem here. They’re all satisfied. You’re trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.’ "

McGrady ‘irritated’ at city for lobbying
Hendersonville officials have been alerting other cities to the possibility of a statewide bill that would sweep municipal water systems under Utilities Commission control.
“I am irritated with the city that rather than talking to me they decided they’re going to start a lobbying campaign,” McGrady said. “I’m hearing from other legislators who have other cities who have been contacted by the city of Hendersonville. I’m trying to deal straight up with them, not in the papers, just very straightforward but talk to everybody. But for whatever set of reasons they decided to go down this road. I’ve communicated with (City Manager) John Connet that I’m well aware of what they’re doing here. They’re reaching out to other cities. They’re trying to stir up opposition.”
Lapsley said McGrady was committed to the Utilities Commission jurisdiction over Hendersonville water before the commissioners took up the question.
“That was my understanding as of 10 days ago,” he said. “All I can tell you is based on my conversations it was my understanding that’s what he was going to do. He had asked Chairman Edney (and said) it would be important for him to know the county commissioners’ position. So he asked me to bring it up and take a position. He didn’t want to take unilateral action on his own. He wanted to know that at least the county commissioners supported it. That’s why we did what we did.”