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City looks into diverting public works operations to a contractor
The city of Nevada is looking at the feasibility of hiring Alliance Water Resources, Columbia, Mo., to operate the city's entire public works department, which would include operation of the water treatment and sewer treatment plants, day-to-day maintenance of the water and sewer systems and street maintenance.
At this time the city does not have a contract with the company and there is no date set for such a proposal to come before the council, City Manager JD Kehrman said in an interview Monday afternoon.
The city would retain the ownership of the treatment plants, the water and sewer system and the streets, and the city council would still set the water and sewer rates, and the city would still collect the water and sewer payments and would be responsible for debt service on the capital improvements, Kehrman said.
Alliance's role would be to provide day-to-day operation, purchase necessary chemicals for the treatment plants and assume the city's liability for operations if the contractor puts the city in non-compliance of regulations.
Because this is the only company with a track record of operating a full public works department, there was no need for the city to issue a Request for Proposals, Kehrman said. While a lot of companies will operate a city's water and sewer systems, Kehrman wants to continue to have a comprehensive public works department that is under one management.
Kehrman said that he met with all 35 public works department employees last Thursday to tell them about this possibility and to let them meet with representatives from Alliance Water Resources, the company the city has asked to look at the department and to give the city a proposal.
"I tried to handle this the way I'd want to be treated," Kehrman said, adding that this gave all of the department personnel an opportunity to ask questions.
As for the department employees who are nearing retirement, he said the city is still looking at whether Alliance already provides adequate benefits or something else will need to be worked out.
"It still has to be determined if this is the right fit for Nevada," he said.
Kehrman said that he has first-hand experience with Alliance Water Resources from his time as city manager in Bowling Green and said that the company provides training for its' employees that the city cannot afford and then pays employees bonuses when they receive a new level of certification. By offering the training it gives employees an opportunity for moving into better jobs, Kehrman noted.
He said that the city recently had to hire a water treatment plant operator and had to go outside the city because they did not have anyone with the needed training and license.
According to the Alliance Water Resources Web site, http://www.alliancewater.com, they have been in the business of contracting these services for 25 years and have more than 250 employees serving 11 towns, ranging in size from Ellsberry, population 2,000, to Cape Girardeau, population 37,500 and 11 public water districts.
Kehrman said that operating 22 water systems allows Alliance to purchase chemicals in bulk and save considerable money.
The other way Alliance can save money is through increased efficiency in the operation of the department.
He said that he could have paid someone $35,000 to do an efficiency study of the public works department; this will not cost the city anything.
He said that the city's water and sewer rates are going to have to be increased, and that will happen whether the city continues to operate the public works department or hires an outside firm.
The question is how much, and how rapidly they will have to be increased and if hiring a contractor to operate these systems will slow the rate of increase, the city has to consider that option.