WCUD meeting tomorrow
LISA HOBBS - News Editor
Fifty-seven Warren County Utility District customers on the south side of Charles Creek have been invited to a public hear regarding a situation that could, potentially, leave them without water for days or weeks.
WCUD notified them on May 21 that a public hearing will be held at 3:45 p.m. at 4034 Sparta Highway in McMinnville to discuss “water service alternative for your Water Meter/Service which may include the sale or transfer of your service” to the city of McMinnville.
Warren County Way reached out to both utilities to determine what this might mean monetarily for those customers.
Warren County Utility District rates are as follows:
Residential users on 3/4” – zero gallons is a $24 minimum bill; all over zero gallons is $0.645/per 100 gallons.
Commercial/Rock Island State Park – first 30,000 gallons is $420 minimum bill; all over 30,000 gallons is $0.645 per 100 gallons
Those rates, effective March 1, 2026, do not include Sales Tax.
McMinnville Water and Sewer Department rates:
Residential water rates, outside city limits, $14.18 minimum, plus all gallons zero and above are $ 0.852 per 100 or any fractional part thereof.
Industrial/Commercial water rates, outside city limits, $14.18 minimum, plus all gallons zero and above are $0.817 per 100 or any fractional part thereof.
Those rates, effective April 23, 2024, do not include Sales Tax.
At 5,000 gallons of water used, residential customers would be charged $56.25 with WCUD and $56.78 by the city of McMinnville. Again, those numbers do not include Sales Tax.
“That’s exactly the numbers that I have at 5,000 gallons,” said WCUD general manager Anthony Pelham. “From there down, the city is just a little bit cheaper than us. When you go over 5,000 gallons, we are just a little bit cheaper than the city’s outside rate. I went all the way, starting at zero in 500 and 1,000-gallon increments.”
Other public concerns have been raised.
“I think the biggest question I’ve seen is are we going to charge them sewer,” said McMinnville Water and Wastewater director Ricky Morton. “Sewer is not available out there, so we wouldn’t charge them for that. The only way you can get sewer, if it were close enough, you’d have to be annexed into the city.”
Annexation is considered by the city at the request of the property owner. By Tennessee law, a municipality cannot annex land without their consent.
“If you want sewer service and if you are close enough to be considered for it, you’d have to request to be annexed,” said Morton. “If we had a property owner who wanted to be annexed into the city, we’d have to determine if we could even provide the service to them.”
There have also been concerns regarding paying city property taxes. Properties outside the city limits are not charged city taxes, even if the city is their water service provider.
Creating the need for this proposed exchange of water customers was a wreck on April 17 in which a motor vehicle crashed on Bluff Springs Road bridge at Upper Faulkner Road and damage to the bridge occurred. The WCUD water line that is attached to the bridge is the only feed from WCUD to the 56 customers that are on the south side of Charles Creek.
The notice to those customers stated, in part, “The water line on the bridge has been inspected and has an elevated risk of failure as it could ‘blow apart’ on the bridge. WCUD is working to prevent an immediate failure and to minimize any service disruption or prolonged outage, but the line must be replaced, or services must be transferred to the city of McMinnville that has nearby lines on Pike Hill and Faulkner Springs roads…”
Pelham says he doesn’t want to lose those customers, but the decision comes down to doing what’s best for them.
“I’m living on borrowed time until it blows apart,” said Pelham. “If it blows apart, I do not have another feed that stretches across. That’s the only line I have. If it blows apart, they will be out of water until I can fix it. Another thing I’ve learned is that the bridge was damaged. It was in very poor condition to begin with. In my opinion, it needs replaced. I’m sure it will be in due time. When that happens, then my water line has to move. So, we’ve been looking at alternatives on how to maintain water service – either due to the bridge being repaired or if that line blows.”
A final decision may take some time. If WCUD board members approve an agreement to sale or transfer those customers, city officials must agree to accept them.
