Writer Questions Plan To Separate Bristol Virginia Utilities From City

By: | TriCities.com
Published: October 11, 2009

After reading the proposed transfer of BVU assets to a newly formed board, I am left to wonder why City Council would even consider voting for this change. It appears to have very little merit and will not really bring in more revenue to the city.

The 2008 auditor’s report from Blackburn, Childers and Steagall PLC shows that Bristol has remained at a populations of 17,400 since 2005 and that in fact the public school enrollment has dropped to 2,272 in 2008. It also shows that the city has net assets of $103,664,578.

The BVU portion of the assets is $52,643,979, or about half. Thus we would be giving up half of the city assets to a new independent board with no oversight or control. Currently, the five city council members oversee rate request hikes, expansions and other important matters. These items are discussed in the public forum because of open meeting laws. A new board could avoid this open forum.

Bristol currently has an A rating from Standard and Poor’s and an A1 rating from Moody’s. Without the BVU assets on the books, we might not have such a good rating. Our ability to borrow (as was just done for annual cash flow) might be reduced.

Control over the BVU is very important due to the major financial impact it has. BVU has the main office in Washington County, is doing work in Tazewell, Va., and has contracts elsewhere. The OptiNet program seems to want to expand all over the Southeast. Maybe BVU should focus only on the Bristol area. The OptiNet employment has grown from 31 employees in 2007 to 102 in 2008. This seems to be a growing element and maybe needs to be separated altogether.

Since a charter change would be needed for this new board, it is good to see that a public meeting will be held and two readings will be held. The public must understand why this change is being proposed and thus far, only tough questions are surfacing. The Virginia General Assembly will have to approve this.

Remember, once you give your assets away, they are gone forever.

Don W. Ashley

Bristol, Va.