Legislation to create an independent Bristol Virginia Utilities authority is “on track” in the General Assembly, Delegate Joe Johnson said Wednesday.
Johnson, D-Abingdon, said a House subcommittee followed its Senate counterpart Wednesday, unanimously approving a bill to create the authority.
BVU, which provides the city’s electric, water, wastewater and telecommunications services, is seeking to become an independent authority without direct city oversight. The controversial plan was approved last year by a divided City Council.
Wednesday’s action by the 10-member subcommittee of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns sends the bill on to the House for a vote in the coming days, Johnson said in a phone interview.
“House Bill 27, which authorizes the BVU authority, was reported out of committee unanimously this morning,” Johnson said.
The item will be added to the House calendar and could be considered as soon as next week, Johnson said.
“No one opposing it appeared before the committee, but there were some people from Bristol in support of it,” Johnson said.
The subcommittee’s action follows Tuesday afternoon’s unanimous vote by the Senate Committee on Local Government to send that version of the bill to the full Senate for consideration.
Legislation patron Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, predicted the Senate could take up the question Friday or Monday.
Mayor Jim Rector, who voted for the plan both as a BVU board member and a councilman, praised the General Assembly’s action when told of the vote.
“I’m pleased they’ve taken this direction,” Rector said. “I’ve been a supporter of the BVU becoming an authority.”
City residents Lonnie and Jeanette Whitley filed a lawsuit in November, contending that the City Council’s approval of the plan constituted a sale of city assets, which should have required a three-fourths or four-vote “super majority” by the five-member council. Earlier this month, Circuit Court Judge Larry B. Kirksey ruled that the lawsuit will proceed, over a city objection that the council vote merely asked the General Assembly to act and didn’t involve the sale of any assets.
The legislation addresses that question, calling it an “entity conversion.”
Johnson said state experts consider the legislation “legitimate and constitutional.”
“The court will have to rule on that at the appropriate time,” Johnson said. “The legislative branch will deal with the legislation and – if a court rules that it is a sale of assets – then the legislation will be void.”
dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532
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