Paris, Tenn.–Meeting in regular session Tuesday morning, the Paris Utility Authority eyed the November opening of the new Water Treatment Plant and heard of the pending departure of one of the top management officials.
Vice President of Water and Wastewater Operations Tony Brown updated the board on the progress of the new Water Treatment Plant.
The Tennessee Department of Environment Conservation gave approval in September for Paris Board of Public Utilities to begin producing water in the new facility. Over the past month, the utility has focused on calibrating the system and has not yet pushed any of the water from the new plant onto the system.
Brown explained there are still some software programming and security processes to be put in place before employees can move into the new plant. The expected date to begin the transition into the new plant is late November.
“The construction of this plant has been a collaborative effort and I look forward to our guys being able to start utilizing the new facility,” said Brown. “This has been a four-year process and we are looking forward to being able to better serve the residents of Paris and Henry County for many years to come with this new facility.”
Authority CEO Terry Wimberley announced the departure of Vice President of Business and Strategic Development, Charlie West. West has taken a position as General Manager of a utility just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
At this time, Wimberley said, he is still evaluating his options for filling the position.
The Board voted to approve the quarterly write-off of delinquent accounts in the amount of $20,063.09. Wimberley drew attention to the increase in that amount from this time last year. He noted that the write-off from this quarter reflects the customers disconnected between May 1 and August 1 and pointed out how remarkably low this amount was given the COVID-19 pandemic.
In other business:
Meagan Hart, Communications and Marketing Specialist, provided a recap of Public Utilities Week. In collaboration with Commercial Bank and Trust and the community, Paris BPU was able to collect 1,200 cans that will be donated to the Henry County Food Bank later in the week.
Additionally, partnering with Commercial Bank again, as well as TVA and Tennessee 811, the utility passed out over 100 bags at their Drive-Thru Kids Event during Public Utilities Week.
“Public Utilities Week is such an exciting time for our utility,” said Hart. “Each year we get to showcase and celebrate the value and advantages of public utilities in Paris and Henry County. Although different this year due to COVID-19, we were still able to engage with our customers through our video series, BINGO game, drive thru event and canned food drive.”
The November meeting of the Board will take place on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.