JEA faces $50 million to $60 million in costs to serve customers of the Normandy Village Utility Co-Op Inc. in West Jacksonville after being appointed as the receiver of the abandoned cooperative and its failing equipment, staff told the JEA board Sept. 23.
In July, NVU filed a notice of abandonment of its operations to the Florida Public Service Commission and Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s office, saying it was operating at a net loss and that a majority of its board believed the not-for-profit co-op was “unlikely to remain operational for much longer.”
NVU, which was based along Normandy Boulevard near Interstate 295, provided water and wastewater services to 1,350 to 1,400 customers, according to JEA.
The filing of the notice led to a Sept. 5 order from the 4th Judicial Circuit Court appointing JEA in receivership of NVU. According a JEA staff presentation to the board, state statutes require counties and municipalities to take over operations of abandoned private utilities if no other owners come forward. The statute is designed to ensure customers have uninterrupted service.
JEA will not own the system unless ordered by court action, but must provide services to NVU’s customers.
Rob Zammataro, JEA’s chief water systems officer, said an analysis of NVU’s system showed it was antiquated and had undergone “little to no investment” since being built in 1957.
“To say it is in poor condition would be an understatement,” Zammataro said.
Staff said the city-owned utility hopes to fund the majority of its costs through a state Community Development Block Grant program provided by FloridaCommerce. If it doesn’t receive the $40 million from the grant that it hopes for, JEA staff said the costs would be borne by ratepayers across JEA’s system.
JEA learned of NVU’s abandonment plans only two weeks before the notice was filed, staff said. Charles Moreland, JEA’s chief customer experience officer, said NVU was exempted from oversight by the Public Service Commission.
Since then, Moreland said, JEA has worked diligently to establish customer support for NVU’s customers, assess the system’s problems and form a plan to keep services available.
“We want to make sure that they (NVU customers) look at us as a trusted resource and that we’re here to be very supportive,” Moreland said.
The NVU water treatment system includes a water treatment plant and water mains. The wastewater treatment system includes a wastewater treatment plant, sewer mains and manholes, and pump stations.
JEA will take the NVU wastewater treatment plant offline eventually, but will maintain it in the short-term to continue servicing former NVU customers.
The wastewater plant suffered from rainwater infiltration that overloaded the system, Zammataro said. He said that during rain events, the system would take in 1 million gallons of water, well above the 250,000- to 300,000-gallon load the system was built to treat.
Because of the infiltration, Zammataro said, JEA had environmental regulation concerns with the wastewater plant, which will keep JEA from connecting its system to the NVU wastewater plant. JEA will fix the NVU issues before beginning to connect the two systems.
“That is not an easy ask. It takes a long time to seek and find out all the cracked pipes and interconnects that are out there,” Zammataro said. “We will continue looking at it and slowly repairing the system.”
JEA will take the water treatment plant offline before beginning improvements to the system. Meeting materials said the plant was unsafe for routine operation. JEA will connect the water system to the JEA water main grid at multiple connection points. The water mains, which have a remaining life expectancy of five to 15 years, will receive a condition assessment.
NVU customers already receive electric service through JEA.
According to the notice of abandonment, the NVU board was mostly composed of its users. The notice said that after the recent death of the organization’s president, Dorothy Letien, a majority of NVU’s board examined its financial situation and found expenses were exceeding revenue.
NVU customers, primarily residential users, have complained about the utility. In a video shown to the JEA board Sept. 23, customers said they didn’t drink NVU water and that they paid high rates for poor service.
JEA will hold a community town hall Sept. 25 with NVU customers to hear questions and concerns. The event will is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Westside High School.