EMC Loses Part of Sewer Contract

Mayor England sent out a press release this afternoon confirming what had been expected, that the private company which manages the New Albany sewer system will relinquish some of its contract resulting in the annual saving of $700,000.

The amount of the contract sacrificed, costs the City about $1,700,000 annually. Of that amount, a significant portion is a "management fee". According to the press release, this will "allow in excess of $1 million to be directed to improving the collection system."

The improvement of the collection system refers to an in-place re-lining process designed to eliminate inflow and infiltration. It is this undermining of the system by the infusion of groundwater into broken and deteriorated pipes that overwhelms the system during heavy rains, resulting in illegal discharges into the river. These discharges caused fines to be levied against the utility by the EPA, and they are the reason New Albany's sewer system is subject to a consent decree with the EPA to clean up the overflow problem.

The re-lining will now be done by employees of the New Albany sewer utility, and paid directly by the utility. The elimination of a private, for-profit management company puts New Albany in a better position to control its own fate and to keep the money spent on this process in the local economy.

Perhaps EMC was a necessary bridge to a point of stability in the management of the sewer utility. But now that the contract has been abridged to allow the Sewer Board its rightful place in managing the utility, we might take from this excercise in public/private partnerships, the lesson that cities need not always be run like a business.

Running cities openly and for the benefit of the citizens is not easy but it is the business of government, and government is a not-for-profit enterprise.