Battle Over Water Board

Prichard may be leaning towards a private company to help with their water woes but the battle isn't over yet. The water board's attorney Willie Huntley says Mobile Area Water and Sewer missed a deadline last month. That's when the water board received several management and operations bids from other companies.

Monday the board authorized Huntley to begin contract negotiations with Severn Trent. The private company has helped run Prichard's waste water plant for the past 2 years. Senator Vivian Davis Figures says choosing a private company could cause more problems for Prichard. She wants Prichard to give MAWSS three more weeks to submit their paperwork. "The board believes that this company can more efficiently operate the whole system. They've shown it with the waste water plant, now the board is just expanding it to other areas,"Said Huntley. "All we're asking them to do is just before they go into any contractual agreement with a private company to at least wait until they get the information from MAWSS, so that MAWSS can tell them without a shadow of a doubt if they are able to lower the rates," Said Figures. Huntley says while the water board is still evaluating Figures' request, a merger with MAWSS could still be a possibility.