The Cumberland Plateau Water Authority has completed its merger with the Crab Orchard Utility District.
General Manager Jeff Dyer said the merger went through with few issues. Dyer said that since the merger has been completed, customers have not experienced a change in service or a change in water rates.
“So with all mergers, there are daily challenges,” Dyer said. “So we had come in and integrate operating systems, and you look at payroll, financials between the two entities, coordinating that and streamlining that was our biggest challenges, but it wasn’t obstacles we couldn’t overcome.”
Dyer said the authority’s next step is to seek a second merger. Dyer said the merger with Crab Orchard has solidified the Cumberland Plateau Water Authority as the representative of the Cumberland Plateau region. Dyer said he would like to have a merger every four to six months.
“We’ve been in discussion with all utilities in Cumberland County, and a few outside of Cumberland County,” Dyer said. “All of them are in communication with us, but there is no timeframe or deadline set on them. It’s all in communication. There’s a lot of fact-finding, a lot of working out details, whats the benefits, how does it work, how does it lay out. These are all part of those four to five months I talked about to integrate a utility, so we are in those stages now with the other utilities.”
Dyer said some utility districts may take some time to see how things play out after the Crab Orchard merger before deciding.
“Some will say, ‘Hey, let me see how a few things operate, ‘” Dyer said. “My answer to that is, look, if we all wait for each other to see what’s happening, there’s not a lot of progress. So we are looking for those innovators that are out for the best benefit of the rate payer, cause those are the people we can help immediately, and that’s where we want to start.”
Dyer said the mission is still to have a long-term, sustainable water solution on the Cumberland Plateau.
