Damaged water line leads to proposed sell

Warren County Utility District is looking to sell 56 of its water customers to the city of McMinnville due to damage to one of its water lines.

The damage occurred April 17 when a pickup crashed on the Bluff Springs Road Bridge at Upper Faulkner Road. The crash has placed the water line under the bridge at an elevated risk of failure.

Because repairs are not cost-effective, Warren County Utility District has proposed selling 56 water customers in that immediate area to the city. The city would be able to provide water service to those customers without much difficulty due to a nearby facility.

The 56 water customers affected have been notified by letter.

The city would pay Warren County Utility District $1,000 for each water customer. There would also be an extra expense for the city to change over the water taps at a cost of $240 per customer.

The total cost for the city would be $69,440.

In return, the city would gain about $26,000 a year in extra water revenue. The new customers would not be able to access city sewer.

A similar customer exchange happened in 2016 when a water line blew under the bridge at Charles Creek. In that instance, the city sold 101 water customers in the Rolling Hills area to Warren County Utility District to avoid costly repairs.

WCUD will hold a public hearing at its next board meeting June 16 at 3:45 pm to hear from any customers with concerns.

This is not the first step toward the city annexing those residents.

McMinnville Water and Wastewater director Ricky Morton has already gained approval from city officials in committee about adding those 56 customers.

“Any time we can pick up that many customers, I’m good with it,” said Morton.