MONTGOMERY — State Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) filed legislation on Thursday to change the makeup of the Birmingham Water Works Board.
Senate Bill 330 would reduce the number of board members from nine to five. The Birmingham mayor, lieutenant governor, Jefferson County Commission president, Blount County Commission, and Shelby County Commission would each get one appointment to the board under the legislation.
Currently, the nine-member board consists of two appointments from the Birmingham Mayor, four appointments by the Birmingham City Council, one appointment by the Jefferson County Mayors Association, one appointment by the Shelby County Commission, and one appointment by the Blount County Commission.
The bill, co-sponsored by state senators Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) and Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville), is set for a public hearing in the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ve been working on this for several years. This has been an ongoing problem. I mean, if you think about it, why should anybody outside of the Birmingham-Hoover (Metropolitan Statistical Area) care about what Birmingham Water Works does? It’s 28% of Alabama’s GDP, just that area alone. The GDP of the Birmingham-Hoover MSA is about twice the size of the GDP of the second-largest MSA in the rest of the state and it’s three times larger than the next (MSA). Everyone is going to suffer if this MSA suffers, and it’s a five-county service. It services customers in Walker County, Blount County, St. Clair County, Shelby, and Jefferson counties, so it’s a big deal,” Roberts told 1819 News on Thursday.
State Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) told 1819 News on Thursday that he opposed the legislation.
“This issue was supposed to be addressed the last time, and that was supposed to be it. Every change that we have made over the last two or three times have been changes that have been requested by the majority in our local delegations. I don’t understand why we are there now, okay? No one has mentioned to me that there was a concern, all of a sudden throw a bill in so it kind of blindsided us. I just don’t see the necessity of it,” Smitherman said.
Roberts said he constantly hears from constituents about “rates, service, problems with speaking with the (Birmingham Water Works) Board.”
“The board cut the time someone may speak to the board from three minutes to two minutes,” Roberts said. “We need a change. We’re only billing for half of the water that we make potable. What business can stay in business if they only collect on half of what they sell, if you will, or push out? That’s incompetence. You have to replace pipelines. Most of the water boards throughout the nation work on a 100-year replacement cycle. Birmingham is over 300 years so they’ve been delaying repairing stuff.”
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