Tag: BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS

Earlier this week, S&P Global Ratings (S&P Global) released a report that removed Central Alabama Water from “CreditWatch Negative” and changed its Outlook to “Stable” while affirming its AA- bond rating, citing efforts made by new management.

Central Alabama Water was vindicated when Circuit Judge Frederic Allen Bolling walked back his prior ruling and dismissed the case brought against them by Woodfin for ending the fluoridation of its water system.

Less than a year ago, Circuit Court Judge Fred Bolling recused himself from a lawsuit at the request of the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB), after lawyers for the utility questioned his ability to be impartial this week he ruled against them.

On Monday, Circuit Judge Frederic Allen Bolling issued a scathing order requiring Central Alabama Water to resume fluoride operations across its entire system, a move that may have catastrophic consequences for the utility's financial well-being and raise costs across the board.

Woodfin criticized the decision of Central Alabama Water to end adding fluoride to water. The issue: two of the system’s three plants were already offline before the new board was created.

Days after making public the utility's perilous financial and operational situation, and weeks after its bond rating was downgraded, Central Alabama Water has announced a drastic workforce reduction.  

A new report released by Central Alabama Water describes the financial and operational catastrophe that the new board inherited from Birmingham Water Works.

During Tuesday's broadcast of Talk 99.5 FM's "Leland Live," Jeff Brumlow, a board member with Central Alabama Water, spoke with fill-in host Apryl Marie Fogel about the new water works board.

S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating to "AA-" from "AA" on Central Alabama Water's fiscal mismanagement, which the board attributes to the former Birmingham Water Works Board.

On Wednesday, Central Alabama Water passed an operation and maintenance budget and a capital budget; the budgets do not include a rate increase for customers.

The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts released its audit looking into the Birmingham Water Works. The agency looked at records from May 1, 2023, to May 31, 2025. It identified four findings that support the legislative restructuring of the board into a regional board.

There have been clear lines drawn in the sand between the two appointees from Birmingham and the rest of the Board since the Birmingham Water Works board became Central Alabama Water.

Jeff Thompson was named the first CEO of Central Alabama Water effective immediately following a vote by the board on Thursday morning. The vote, which gave Thompson a two-year contract with an annual salary of $446,000, was approved by four members of the board for the hire, two against and one member voting present.

Wednesday afternoon, the Central Alabama Water Board announced that it will hold a special-called meeting on Thursday to retain Jeffrey F. Thompson as chief executive officer of Central Alabama Water. 

On Wednesday, Central Alabama Water settled one of the pending lawsuits against them in part by offering a new contract to the Birmingham Water Works Board’s former attorney, Mark Parnell.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is threatening to hold up Central Alabama Water’s (CAW) ability to make critical repairs to its infrastructure, sending a letter to the Central Alabama Water Board that puts conditions on the City of Birmingham’s approval of pending loans. 

In a lawsuit filed by Mark Parnell, the former lawyer for the Birmingham Water Works Board, he takes aim at the legislature’s reconstitution of the board and their motivation behind it, saying that his now canceled multi-million dollar contract was “to ensure institutional continuity,” and to prevent senior leadership from leaving as a result of "political chaos".

Central Alabama Water has referred the discovery of a second theft to the Birmingham Police Department (BPD). This follows a referral just months ago to BPD for an estimated $2 million in copper thefts.

On Monday's agenda for Central Alabama Water, the board considered three pending invoices for monthly payments of $35,000 to the Birmingham Business Resource Center.

Monday's Central Alabama Water Board meeting was marked by debate over bylaws and board officers before members went into an executive session to discuss Lake Purdy Dam.

At this week's Birmingham Water Works meeting, significant changes continue as the newly formed regional board moves forward to make the utility reflect its regional management and service area.

In a Monday interview on Birmingham radio's "Alabama's Morning News," Jefferson County Commission president Jimmie Stephens, who was recently diagnosed cancer-free, discussed the latest at the Birmingham Water Works Board.

The day Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and the Birmingham City Council filed suit on behalf of the City of Birmingham, asking the court to "enjoin, restrain, and otherwise prevent the Defendants (named and/or fictitious) from signing SB330 into law."

The waning days of the Birmingham Water Works Board were marred by several last-ditch efforts by those in control to retain their power and avert the legislature's efforts to reform and restructure the board.

Circuit Court Judge Fred Bolling issued an order recusing himself from a lawsuit at the request of the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB), doing so to avoid a “media circus.”

The newly appointed Birmingham Water Works Board’s first meeting got off to a rocky and heated start Wednesday night as members clashed over the former board’s decision to sell their assets to the City of Birmingham.

All seven appointments have been made to the newly restructured Birmingham Regional Water Board ahead of the board’s first meeting on Wednesday.