BLUEFIELD, W. Va. -After the City of Bluefield announced that they were in talks with West Virginia American Water to buy their wastewater system, they held a public hearing on Monday to discuss the purchase with the community.
The Bluefield Sanitary Board has customers throughout the area, extending into Virginia as well. Some of those customers voiced their concerns at this meeting, with two of the biggest fears being rate increases and the employees losing their jobs.
We spoke to Jake Glance, director of business development for West Virginia American Water, who says these are common complaints at any potential expansion. He addressed those fears by explaining that, if the purchase goes through, rate increase will be the same as already approved by Bluefield Sanitary Board and saying that they want to keep the people who know the system here in the area.
“…We just love having the questions, we love having the back and forth, because we know the offer we made to Bluefield is a really good offer, between the rate phase in, the purchase price, the employees, we’re going to build a building in downtown Bluefield, we’re going to make Bluefield our hub of our statewide wastewater operations, and we’re going to invest a lot of money… to make sure the system stays as good as it is…” says Glance.
The City Board will be voting on this decision on Tuesday.
However, even if the purchase is approved, Glance says there is still more levels of approval needed, with permission still needed by the Town of Bluefield and the Public Service Commission of both West Virginia and Virginia. That process could take six to nine months, meaning, even if approved, American Water wouldn’t be able to take ownership until the end of the year.
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