Jan

Oppose the Forced Taking of Municipal Water Systems!

Because Friday night’s not too bad for fighting, either.

NC Legislators & Governor: We Oppose the Forced Taking of Municipal Water Systems!

By Kathie Kline (Contact)

To be delivered to: The North Carolina State House, The North Carolina State Senate, and Governor Beverly Perdue

Petition Statement

1) I am opposed to any legislation that forces the transfer of any local government infrastructure systems or assets (in this case Asheville’s 20,000 pristine watershed) to another city or entity, or to restrict or eliminate the ability of a locality to operate a municipal enterprise directed by elected officials for the benefit of city taxpayers and ratepayers.
2) I am opposed to any mandated takeover as it sets a bad precedent for the future of all cities owning and operating municipal assets and undermines the confidence of municipalities to move forward to invest in their systems.
3) I am opposed to any mandated takeover as it calls into question the authority of state legislatures to arbitrarily transfer assets from one local government entity to another.

Petition Background

North Carolina’s General Assembly is about to take the unprecedented step of seizing a municipal-run water system from a City, which in this case has owned & operated it for over 100 years. Members of the NCGA have signaled their intention to introduce legislation in early 2013 that would force the City of Asheville to turn over not only its water distribution system, but control of its pristine 20,000 acre watershed, to the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County (MSD). Indications are that the City of Asheville will likely receive no compensation for the taking of these assets.

Hooligans? You know what to do. Here’s where to do it.

Categories : Action, Local, NC Governor, NC Legislature, North Carolina, Tim Moffitt, Water

Comments

Tom Sullivan says:

January 5, 2013 at 4:47 pm

300 signatures and counting.

Including Mr. Peck. Hmmm….

Rate this comment: 1
Nancy says:

January 5, 2013 at 6:15 pm

Tom, the language in the petition certainly reflects my views but I’m confused as to why it’s addressed to ‘Governor Beverly Perdue’ when Pat McCrory is now our Governor. I am reluctant to sign in light of that error.

Rate this comment: 2
Tom Sullivan says:

January 5, 2013 at 6:34 pm

Sent a note to the originator earlier about that and a typo, but have not seen an edit on that. Perhaps if you did? See link above.

Rate this comment: 1
Tom Sullivan says:

January 5, 2013 at 7:14 pm

I’n told it’s being worked on.Petition was set up when Perdue was still in office.

Rate this comment: 1
TJ says:

January 5, 2013 at 7:57 pm

I signed it and forwarded it on (despite my anti-mass mailing policy) to about 30 people I know…didn’t send it to any of y’all, figuring that’s a wasted stamp- I mean cyber space.

Yes, a number of conservative folks I know signed on…including some living in the county, not city.

I figure it will be passed along to her successor, but, will sign again if necessary..twenty times, if need be!

Rate this comment: 0
Tom Sullivan says:

January 6, 2013 at 9:56 am

Ratepayers being taken for a ride on water system : AC-T

Rate this comment: 0
Tom Buckner says:

January 6, 2013 at 4:54 pm

When I lived in Holden, Massachusetts, we had city water and sewer connected to the larger neighboring city Worcester (which is about 3 times as big as Asheville) and our sewage got piped to Auburn on the other side of Worcester. So I’m feeling a little bit of deja vu over what the takers want to do about consolidating Asheville’s water system and making Asheville ratepayers support north Henderson County, with privatization seeming a likely endgame (its supporters will all vehemently deny this of course, but words fall from their mouths like dung from a goat).

I’m only going over this bit of detail about the Holden water system because it might interest readers to know that our water/sewer bill during the years there was about $350 per quarter, or more than $100/month, and we had a damn hard time of it.

It’s possible, in fact, that we would have ended up losing that house if we hadn’t sold when we did.

Rate this comment: 2
Tom Sullivan says:

January 7, 2013 at 7:30 am

3 days. Over 600 sigmatures.

Rate this comment: 1
Bobby Coggins says:

January 8, 2013 at 6:48 am

I’m passing this along for your information:

Last night, the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen passed a resolution that says, in part…

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved By The Town of Franklin As Follows:

1. The Town of Franklin is opossed to legislation that forces the transfer of any City’s municipal water system to another entity.

2. The Town of Franklin is convinced that local arrived at by an open, collaborative process is preferable to a legislative directed disposition of local government assets.

3. The Town of Franklin is opposed to the forced taking of any local government infrastructure because such taking sets a dangerous precedent that will have a chilling effect on any local government investing in needed infrastructure in the future, thereby endangering business opportunities and economic stability in the State and resulting in job losses for our citizens her[e] and across the State.

Here is a video chopped to just include the segment of the meeting that focused on the issue at http://www.tubechop.com/chop/eyTl8D0xdEE

A copy of the resolution and supporting documentation can be found on pages 4-7 on the agenda packet I have embedded on my blog at http://is.gd/13A0107

7
Davyne Dial says:

January 8, 2013 at 7:33 am

Thanks TP.
As word spreads of the hostile takeover, we can expect this sentiment to mushroom. Just because the State can do this, doesn’t mean they should. Perhaps our new Governor will find a better way to deal with our ongoing water woes, whereby we all benefit.

Rate this comment: 3
theotherbarry says:

January 8, 2013 at 10:59 am

Way to go, Franklin!

That’s the NC League of Municipalities resolution. You can read the whole thing here:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/108366839/resolution.pdf

BTW, that’s the resolution that Hendersonville City Council put on their agenda a few days ago, but abruptly dropped it at the opening of the meeting after Chuck McGrady said it would “not be helpful for Hendersonville” if they passed it.

http://tinyurl.com/a5xtkro

Rate this comment: 2
Tom Sullivan says:

January 8, 2013 at 11:49 am

Thanks a lot, Bobby.

Rate this comment: 1