John Coffelt, Editor

The Manchester Water and Sewer Commission recommended during the Sept. 4 meeting that the city hire a professional firm to do a feasibility study that could lay the groundwork for forming an independent water department that would be governed by utility body.

Chairman of the Water Commission Michael Anderson said that it was time to study the idea and see if the bodies want to separate and what that would look like.

Water Board Commissioner Gary Hunt said that the move would remove politics from the management of the water department.

“It would (remove) aldermen from worrying about the next election cycle versus this utility worrying about the next 20-30 years,” Hunt said.

“This is a business. It’s not the same as the fire department or street department; it has a different mission,” he said.

Several aldermen and the mayor present at the meeting appeared cold to the proposed independent utility.

Mayor Joey Hobbs shared the sentiment of several aldermen in the room suggesting that this was not the time for the water department to separate from the city. He said the water department would be better able to govern itself only after it can go a few years without dipping into the fund balance.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve run a deficit in this department,” he said. “I think the study will tell you what you can and can’t do.”

Alderman Thomas Crosslin, recently appointed to the commission, voiced support of the feasibility study, but said that it would take a lot to convince him to move forward.

“Any amount of information that we can get is a good thing,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy to convince me that this is a direction we need to go.”

Alderman Julie Anderson, former Water Commission member, however, said that the training that water commission members are required to attend places them in a better position to make decisions regarding the water department.

She referred to a recent rate increase that passed unanimously at the Water Commission and narrowly passed a second reading at BOMA.

Crosslin said that potential drawbacks to an independent utility, hidden costs such as book keeping, human resources, computer services and office space that Manchester Water and Sewer currently has, should not get lost in the discussion.

If the city was to move forward in creating an independent water utility, it could be done by Board of Mayor and Aldermen action or by public referendum. The suggestion for a feasibility study will go before BOMA at a future meeting.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.