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No flow for Orange Park

Town ceases water and sewer sale talks

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 9/19/18

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No flow for Orange Park

Town ceases water and sewer sale talks


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Orange Park residents no longer need to worry about Clay County Utility Authority taking over the town’s water utility systems after a Tuesday night vote by Town Council.

During the Sept. 18 regular meeting, the Orange Park Town Council voted 5-0 to end further discussion with CCUA and a $20 million offer presented last spring to buy the town’s water and sewer system. Prior to the council’s regular meeting, council members and CCUA board members met in a town hall-style forum in council chambers to openly present the proposal.

“We’re not a whole lot different than you,” Morris said. “I’d like to think of us as friends and neighbors. We share the same commitment to high levels of customer service and that’s who we are and what we do and why we’re here, and I’m hoping we can have a high-level conceptual interest to see if you all can reach a consensus and give us direction on the next steps.”

The 3-page letter from CCUA Executive Director Tom Morris to Town Manager Sarah Campbell dated June 18, 2018 also details a $400,000 annual payment CCUA would make to the town.

In weeks leading up to the town hall, Campbell had said it would be up to the residents to decide whether water and sewer is a function that residents consider a necessary service.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gone down the list of water services and what that means to the town. What is the community’s reaction to this offer and how important is the provision of water and sewer service to the town by the town for citizens? These are questions we’re looking to get answered before we move forward with anything,” Campbell told Clay Today in August.

A room of over 50 constituents heard Morris explain the benefits the acquisition would provide, as well as CCUA’s reasoning behind the offer.

Morris said, if the deal was approved, CCUA would help prepare Orange Park for the future of water services such identifying water from sources other than the Floridan Aquifer, stormwater reusability and more. He said the town has all its eggs in one basket, so if one water plant goes down, the town would be in an undesirable position, whereas with CCUA in control, if one plant goes down, there would be an additional 17 plants available to continue service.

Vice Mayor Ron Raymond, though, had no desire to deal in what ifs and future possibilities and instead offered Orange Park’s services as a partnership for CCUA, rather than outright ownership.

“[The Orange Park water utility system] is a cash cow and it’s a piggy bank and we’ve got the capability to fix those problems [that Morris stated],” Raymond said. “I think we can work together. I think the discussion that we’ve had has said, ‘okay, we’ve got some mutual needs and we can work together,’ but I’m more interested in being your partner than being your customer.”

CCUA board members jumped into the discussion just as other town council members did but at the end of the town hall, the council was not going to budge, and they didn’t, although they all commented how flattering CCUA’s interest was.

A number of outspoken Orange Park residents shouted that CCUA only wanted the deal because of money, among other things. When residents got the time to speak later during the regular meeting the message was clear – they did not want the council to take CCUA’s deal.

When council voted to end further discussions with CCUA about the offer, a thunderous applause erupted from the audience.